MLP FIM: Saviors of Harmony
by WildDancer101
Summary: Twilight Sparkle and her friends encounter a pony who is preparing to battle an evil force that appeared a thousand years ago and is attempting once again to destroy not just Equestria, but the whole world. Together, the Mane Six and their stallion companions must travel throughout the world and stop the evil force from bringing forth the world's destruction, or all will be lost.
1. Prologue

Once upon a time, in a magical land called Equestria, an era of love and peace was upon all living beings, one of which in most dominance is ponies. Unicorns, Pegasi and Earth Ponies, young and old, lived together in harmony, under the rule of two royal Alicorn sisters, the elder who controls the sun, and the younger who controls the moon.

Everything was perfect for Equestria, but something terrible happened. The younger sister's bitterness corrupted her and transformed her into an evil being of darkness, Nightmare Moon, who intended to overthrow her elder sister and make the night last forever in Equestria. Having no choice, the elder sister used the most powerful magic ever known, the Elements of Harmony, to defeat her younger sister and banish her into the moon. She then took responsibility for the sun and moon, bringing peace for the ponies once again.

However, fate had a terrible plan for Equestria.

From the other side of the world came a large cloud of darkness that reeked of evil. As it floated over Equestria, creatures and demons of untold horror appeared everywhere on the land, and they started to destroy whatever stood in their way, including the unfortunate ponies. The elder sister tried all she could to stop the darkness, but many lives were lost and Equestria was in ruin.

Such destruction and horror brought heartbreak to the elder sister. But then, the Elements of Harmony reacted to something in a way she didn't think is possible. In the undiscovered western land of Equestria, a tip of a mountain was shining a golden aura, then it exploded in a shockwave, where something flew out of it, to the elder sister's awe.

In the sky was a figure whose trail of golden magic follows behind. It flew to the sun, and to the elder sister's shock, it looked like a large shadow of a pony entering the sun and then flying down out of it. The mysterious pony flew all around Equestria, and it's golden magic restored the land.

The pony then appeared before the elder sister, and to her surprise, it is a Stallion in wondrous colors of silver and gold, and his eyes are as pure yellow as the sun. On his head is a golden crown with a golden jewel unlike anything seen in the world.

He introduced himself as the Savior of Harmony, the legendary hero chosen by the forces above to defeat the darkness, and the wielder of the Seventh Element.

Together, they helped the ponies rebuild what was lost. During that time, the elder sister is in awe of the Savior's unwavering nobility and believing in every living being, that she fell in love with him, and the Savior reciprocated her feelings.

But it was not to last.

The darkness returned, biding its time in a barren land to gather its strength and launch a final attack on Equestria. The Savior knows what he must do. To defeat the darkness, he must bring the Elements of Harmony and his Seventh Element with him. The elder sister sadly allowed this, and the Savior flew towards his final battle.

With his army of allied beings from across Equestria the Savior lead them to battle against the darkness and its demons of evil. The losses on both sides were severe, thus the Savior made one last effort. By channelling the magic of the Seventh Element into the Elements of Harmony, a powerful spell was cast towards the darkness that sealed it into the ground of the barren land. The allied army celebrated their victory, but the combined magic of all the Elements left the Savior very weak, weak enough to be near his death.

The elder sister was heartbroken to see the Savior close to death, but he assured her that even if they are apart, they will always be in each other's hearts. He then explained that the spell used to seal the darkness was only temporary, and in a millennia the spell will be broken, leading to the darkness being free again to spread its wrath on the world. If that comes to pass, a new pony will take the Savior's place and the Seventh Element will connect with that pony, and the Elements of Harmony will connect with new ponies in the future.

The signs of a new Savior are these: he will fall in love with a mare who will be the new bearer of the Elements of Harmony, they will be separated by a tragic event, then they will reunite when the Element bearers long for love, and finally, he will be granted the powers of the Savior of Harmony only when the love the future bearers acquired are at their strongest.

To ease the elder sister's sadness, the Savior sang a song to comfort her. As he finished, his body and his Seventh Element start to fade into nothingness, and he said these last words, "My friends are my power, and I am theirs."

With that, all that was left of him was a silver feather, and the elder sister cherished it in memory of the Savior.

As generations come to pass, this grand event became legend, and it then became myth. No pony ever learned of this mark of history, and they continue to live in love and peace, being very unaware of the fate that will come back to haunt Equestria...and the world.

* * *

In a land far away, at an old house standing on a hill, in a bedroom a young colt and old unicorn are sitting on the bed. The unicorn is using her magic to levitate an ancient book for the colt to read. The colt has round lilac eyes, a grey coat, and a dark purple mane and hooves and the old mare unicorn has saggy pink eyes, an ultramarine coat and a periwinkle mane and tail. The unusual thing about the colt is that he doesn't have a tail, nor did it attempt to grow, but it didn't bother him a bit.

The colt looks up to the old mare excitedly. "Wow! That's still an amazing story as ever, Granny Ocean!"

"Oh, Zenith," said Ocean Swing, "you still get amazed by this story probably fifty times I've read to you."

"That's because its sounds so cool and real!" Zenith bounced excitingly a bit on the bed. " Do you think anypony will find that myth to be real? And that the Seventh Element exists?"

Ocean puts the book down on a desk beside the bed. "Who knows? Only time will tell."

"Isn't it better to prove something's real by your own hoofs?" asked Zenith.

"Why yes." answered Ocean. "But if you're willing to prove anything in life, you'd have to put everything you believe in on the line to see it through." Ocean looked at a clock above the window opposite the bed. "It's getting late. Time to go to sleep, my little pony."

Zenith giggled as Ocean used her magic to pull the blanket from under him. As Zenith lay down on his pillow, Ocean laid the blanket over his body.

"Good night, Zenith."

"Good night, Granny Ocean."

Ocean kissed Zenith's head softly and went to the door. Before she can turn off the light, Zenith lifted his head to look at Ocean. "Granny?"

Ocean looked back at Zenith. "Yes, Zenith?"

"Do you think I will find the right mare of my life to live beside with?"

Ocean smiled at his grandson's innocent and curious question. "As I said, only time will tell, along with showing that mare how much you care for her and everything in life."

Ocean then switched the light off. "I love you."

"Love you, too."

Ocean exited the room closing the door behind her, and Zenith snuggled to get comfortable in his bed. He looked to the window opposite from his bed to see the moon along with the bright stars in the night sky.

"One day, I'll find that mare of my life." Zenith said to himself. "I'll show her just how much of a heart of gold I have, and how much she means to me. Only then will I find my destiny in this world."

Zenith then closed his eyes and went to sleep.

* * *

Morning came on a forest. Under one of the trees lies a stallion who is wearing a white cloak with its hood over his head. Beside him is a purple bag. He seems to be struggling in his sleep.

As the sunlight's rays touch him, he immediately wakes up with a gasp and a look of fear on his face. He wipes the sweat off of his face with his hoof. "Ugh, I had that dream again. Gotta do something to get my mind off of that."

He picked up is bag, put it over his back and walked out of the forest. Some time passed, and he trotted to a top of a hill and saw what was on the eastern horizon in awe. The stallion saw a mountain and beside that is a castle built into it.

"Canterlot." muttered the stallion. "If that's where it is, then that must mean, Ponyville is nearby it. And it also means, somewhat south from there is the Everfree Forest, where the most legendary magic resides there, or so I've read."

The stallion sighed. "Hang on a while, Ponyville. There's something I gotta check at the Everfree Forest. When I'm done there, I'll be on my way to you, where I am certain you'll show me my destiny."

The stallion then galloped down the hill straight to his destination. It seems this ordinary stallion has a major role to play in the most extraordinary event Equestria may not experience ever again. Little does he know, his destiny will be his most amazing one.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	2. Chapter 1

Ponyville. One of the most peaceful places in Equestria. It is home to ponies who wish to live simple lives. It has been through many problems here and there, but a group of special ponies solved all of them up to today. Now, there is a castle at the edge of Ponyville, where those special ponies reside in once in a while, the Castle of Friendship. These ponies are:

Applejack, an Earth Pony who believes in honest hard work and always tells the truth most of the time. She is the Element of Honesty.

Pinkie Pie, a happy, random and hyperactive Earth Pony who likes to make everypony laugh and smile. She is the Element of Laughter.

Fluttershy, a shy Pegasus who is kind to everypony including the animals, unless the situation has her doing otherwise. She is the Element of Kindness.

Rainbow Dash, a proud Pegasus who dreams of being the best flyer in Equestria and never leaves her friends hanging. She is the Element of Loyalty.

Rarity, a Unicorn fashion designer who gives anything to anypony and does not expect a reward in return. She is the Element of Generosity.

And Twilight Sparkle, an eagerly smart Alicorn who at first likes to study and didn't have time for friends, aside from the company of her assistant, Spike the baby dragon, but she had learned so much about friendship and continues to study it with her friends. She is the Princess of Friendship and the Element of Magic.

What's that? What is it about these Elements being spoken of, and what do they have to do with these special ponies? Good question.

They are called, the Elements of Harmony. They are a powerful source of magic known throughout the ages, and they are rarely used if in dire need. Twilight and her friends used them to stop evil forces that dare to do harm on Equestria.

The first time they used them was to defeat Nightmare Moon, a being who wanted the night to last forever. The last time they used them was to give them back to the Tree of Harmony, where they came from in the first place, to prevent Ponyville's fate of being overcome by the roots of Everfree Forest.

After defeating a mighty evil, the Tree of Harmony's magic created the Castle of Friendship, where Twilight and her friends spread the meaning of friendship across Equestria and continue to do so to this day.

Now, the most recent events had happened. Twilight had to stop a unicorn called Starlight Glimmer from altering the timeline of Twilight's friends earning their cutie marks. She reached out to Starlight and offered to teach her about friendship. Twilight then notices that one of her friends in another world was trying to contact her, so she went there to sort it out, only to meet her counterpart which she finds it to be the most strangest thing that ever happened to her.

It is up to that point that the story can go in many different directions in the view of many different eyes. This is one of them.

* * *

Inside the library of the Castle of Friendship, a mare unicorn looking worried sits in front of a mirror that is connected by wires to a large device, which at the top of it is a book mounted on it. She has purple-blue eyes, a mane of two shades of purple with some aquamarine highlights, a heliotrope coat and a cutie mark of a purple and white star with two blue glimmering streams.

This is Starlight Glimmer, the pony that used to have a twisted view on equality because of how a friend of hers gained his cutie mark before she did until Twilight convinced her to give friendship a chance. Even though she made amends with the Mane Six and everypony else, Starlight still feels remorse for her actions and wonders what else she can do to earn forgiveness.

Then, a little baby dragon enters the library. He has mulberry scales with a light grey underbelly and lime green ears, harlequin spikes and pistachio eyes. He sees Starlight's worried face and is concerned. "Starlight? Are you okay?"

Starlight turns her head to see the dragon. "Yes, Spike. Just worried, that's all."

Spike walks over to Starlight and stands beside her. "About Twilight? She'll be fine. Me and her went to that world to help our counterpart friends twice. Once she settles things there she'll come back."

"I'm not worried about that," said Starlight, "I'm worried that I may not be forgiven yet for what I did to the timeline of your friends earning their cutie marks."

Hearing that, Spike put is claw on Starlight's shoulder. "I know what that's like. But you admitted that what you did was wrong and they forgave you for it. Admitting what you done isn't easy, but that's the first step in earning forgiveness."

"But what if I don't earn everypony's forgiveness?" asked Starlight.

"That depends on how long you put an effort to show how sorry you are for your actions." replied Spike. "Don't worry about the past. For now, you should be happy that you have friends who will be there for you."

"Profound words ever spoken, if I say so myself." an elegant voice said.

"Darn-tootin'." a southern drawl voice said.

Starlight and Spike turned to see two ponies entering the library and walking toward them. One is a mare unicorn with an elegant and groomed mane and tail in many shades of indigo and violet, a light gray coat, has azure eyes with bluish gray eyeshadow make up, and a cutie mark of three blue lozenge diamonds. The other is a mare Earth pony with sap green eyes, a light olive mane and tail with a little red band on each of the ends, a light gamboge coat, wears a Stetson hat on her head and has a cutie mark of three red apples.

"Howdy, Applejack. H-hello, Rarity." Spike greeted the two ponies, the latter to which he did bashfully. Ever since Spike had a crush on Rarity and how much she appreciated all he did for her, their relationship as friends has been going great. Whether or not it could evolve more remains to be seen. "Uh, 'pro-found?'"

"As in a heartfelt and wise statement." said Rarity.

"What she said." said Applejack.

"Aw, shucks." Spike blushed.

"Hey, girls." greeted Starlight. "What brings you here?"

"Jus' checkin' on ya an' if Twilight made it back yet." Applejack looked at the mirror. "No dice, Ah reckon."

"Yeah." said Spike. "The Crystal Mirror hasn't been active lately since Twilight left."

Starlight looked back at the Crystal Mirror. "It's strange. I had no idea there was another world that can be accessed willingly."

"It is a divine experience, darling." replied Rarity. "But sometimes there are consequences for doing so if you are not careful."

Starlight looked at Rarity confused. "Like what?"

"Like super duper BIG consequences!" a cheerful voiced yelled.

Starlight let out a squeak as she heard the voice and looked to who said that. Standing in front of her is a pink coated mare Earth Pony with cerulean eyes, a puffy raspberry mane and tail and a cutie mark consisting of two blue balloons with yellow strings and a yellow balloon with a blue string over the other ones.

As Starlight catches her breath, the pink mare giggles. "Pinkie Pie," huffed Starlight, "sometimes I don't know how you do that, but how big are the consequences?"

"They're simple, really," Pinkie bounced, and like really bounced, around Starlight and Spike. "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna explained that the Crystal Mirror leads to a new world but it can't handle having probably three or more ponies, or a cute little baby dragon since Spike went there, in that world because it could lead to an unbalance of both worlds like how we end up meeting our counterparts or how something in that world opened portals to this world!"

Pinkie then stared at Starlight closely making the latter feel uneasy. "And if that's not weird enough, those kinds of things happening too many times can leave both worlds in a big mess! And if they are in a mess, they would be so big that there will be no time to throw parties, no celebrating, no cake, no presents, no ANYTHING!"

Spike then stepped in between Pinkie and Starlight. "Okay, Pinkie, we get the picture. You've made your point with Starlight far enough."

Pinkie notices that Starlight is nervous. "Oh, sorry." Pinkie giggles and steps back.

"All of that is nothin' ta be worryin' about, sugarcube." said Applejack. "If ya keep yer eye on the target and not goof off, you'll be able to-"

WHOOSH! POW!

Applejack gets cut off when something, or somepony, crashes into her from behind, surprising everypony in the library. After skidding on the floor a bit near the Crystal Mirror, Applejack looks up annoyingly at the pony that 'crash landed' into her. It is a light cyan mare Pegasus with moderate cerise eyes, a mane and tail having the colors of a rainbow and a cutie mark of a blue-yellow-red lightning bolt under a cloud. The cyan mare chuckle sheepishly at what she did.

"Whoops, uh, sorry?" said the Pegasus.

"Dagnabbit, Rainbow Dash!" Applejack pushed off the mare. "What have Ah told ya 'bout flyin' at top speed that results in crashin' into somepony?"

"Really now," Rarity adjusted her mane with a frustrated look on her face. "the wind that follows you around could've ruffled my coiffure!"

"Hey, I was just practicing my new method of flying into this part of the castle in ten seconds flat!" Rainbow Dash dusted herself off. "But I keep falling short of the record due to many sharp turns."

"And nearly bumping into somepony?" Spike said as he helped Starlight up to her hooves.

Starlight then notices another mare Pegasus walking, not flying, into the library. She has moderate cyan eyes, a light yellow coat, a pink mane and tail and a cutie mark of three butterflies with cyan bodies and pink wings. Unlike other ponies, her eyes show that she is shy. She sees what has happened in concern.

"Oh my," said the shy mare, "I hope anypony here isn't hurt by Rainbow Dash's, um, 'method.'"

"Nope! Everypony here's a-okay, Fluttershy!" Pinkie jumped up and down a bit. "Funny. We keep popping up in here one by one or two by two or two by one! First Applejack and Rarity, then me, then Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy! If another pony came in, this chain reaction would be supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

Everypony looks at Pinkie bewildered by the last word she said, which she notices. "What?"

"I don't think that last word you said is a real one." said Starlight.

Pinkie moved in beside Starlight's head. "Not if you heard the story of the magical mare nanny!"

Pinkie then laughed while the other ponies and Spike chuckled nervously.

Then, the Crystal Mirror started to glow, which caught everypony's attention. Through the mirror stepped out a mare Alicorn. She has violet eyes, a lilac coat, a dark sapphire blue mane and tail with some violet and rose streaks and a cutie mark of a pink six pointed sparkle with five small white sparkles surrounding it. She looks at everypony in the library.

"A-ha!" said Pinkie. "I nailed my theory on the spot!"

"Twilight!" Spike ran towards Twilight and gave her a hug which she returns the gesture. "Boy, am I glad that you're back!"

"Oh, Spike," replied Twilight, "I wasn't gone for too long." They broke the hug. The other ponies aside from Starlight gathered around Twilight.

"How did things go over there, sugarcube?" asked Applejack.

"Did you have a swell time with our counterparts?" asked Pinkie.

"Do they have new fashion ideas that are inspiring?" asked Rarity.

"Did they ask how awesome I am?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Calm down, girls!" said Twilight. "One at a time."

"Um, did you help Sunset Shimmer with what was troubling her, if you don't mind me asking?" Fluttershy asked while drawing circles on the floor.

"Well, Sunset was contacting me about helping with answering her problems," explained Twilight, "so when I got there, I explained that I was sorry for not replying to her messages because I was busy trying to prevent a time loop hole. I stated that it was the strangest thing to ever happen to me, until I met my counterpart."

The group is taken aback by the last sentence. "Fascinating." Rarity is in awe of this explanation. "Did she look mostly like you?"

"Aside from her clothes, hairstyle and glasses, yes she does." answered Twilight. "Anyway, me, her, Sunset and your counterparts had a conversation on what the deal is of our two worlds being connected and what happened during the times me and Spike were there."

Starlight then entered the group. "This Sunset Shimmer. Was she mostly like me?"

Twilight, Spike and the other ponies looked at Starlight in concern. "Well, how do I put this nicely?" Twilight pondered. "Her reasons for what she did were different from what yours were and she felt sorry for what she did while you accepted my offer willingly. Why?"

"I just wondered...what did she do to earn forgiveness for what she did." said Starlight.

"Come now, sugarcube." Applejack put her hoof onto Starlight's shoulder. "We all know how bummed you are 'bout what ya did, but that was then and this is now. All of us are friends now, and friends always help each other out."

Starlight looks at the ponies and Spike. They have reassuring faces and nods to accompany them. She then smiles. "Thanks, everypony. I may still feel remorse for my actions, but I promise that I won't let that slow me and my new friends down."

"That's the spirit!" Rainbow Dash lifted to the air. "Hate to cut this short, but I have some new stunts to practice on at the lake! Lemme know when you want to watch me be awesome!"

Rainbow Dash then 'dashes' off through one of the library windows.

"Um, I'll be at my cottage if you like some caretaking lessons for my animal friends. Bye." Fluttershy bowed to Starlight and walked to the library exit.

"If ya like some work," Applejack tips her hat, "then Sweet Apple Acres could use an extra hoof for the harvestin'. Later, partner." She walks to the exit.

"There's some new recipes I want to test out at Sugarcube Corner!" Pinkie hugged Starlight hard, making it hard for the unicorn to breathe until Pinkie released her. "And you're invited to help me out with them anytime! Oh, and there will be a 'Twilight returns from the other world' party planned by the one and only Pinkie Pie! That's me! Bye!" Pinkie bounced to the exit.

"Be sure to drop on by at Carousel Boutique." Rarity stroked her mane. "I'd like a look at my latest work of dresses when you model them for me. Ta-ta!" She starts to leave.

"Bye, Rarity!" Spike waved goodbye to Rarity.

She turned to look at Spike. "Bye to you as well, my little Spikey-wikey." Rarity flutters her eyelids and exits as Spike sighs dreamingly.

"'Spikey-wikey?'" Starlight asks.

"That's a little story for another time." Twilight chuckles a bit. "So, shall we begin your defensive spell practicing?"

"That would be great." Starlight smiled. She, Twilight and Spike then leave the library to start practicing on Starlight's spells. Starlight feels a bit better considering how her friends invited her to do some things with them, and that feeling may be just what she will be satisfied with for now.

* * *

Canterlot. The capital city of Equestria, where many high class ponies live and prosper in their wealth and fame. Beside the city is a large castle carved into the side of a mountain, where the two royal Alicorn sisters reside.

Inside the throne room sits a large Alicorn named Princess Celestia. She has a white coat, a majestically flowing mane and tail of pink and other shades of blue, has pale magenta eyes, wears a golden crown and front guard with purple jewels in them and light gold shoes on her hooves. She is worried about something, and never before had she been this worried since the other times Equestria was in danger.

"Celestia?" a mare voice called. Celestia looked up to see another Alicorn that is a little taller than other ponies yet smaller than Celestia entering the throne room. She has dark cyan eyes, a dark blue mane and tail with a gray persian blue outline flowing in the same manner as Celestia's, a dark blue coat, light sapphire blue eyeshadow on her eyelids, wears light purple-blue shoes, a black crown and front guard having a picture of a crescent moon on it, and has a cutie mark of a crescent moon on a dark purple background. She is concerned about Celestia's current mood. "Are you sensing what I sense as well?"

"Princess Luna," responded Celestia, "you are correct. Something stirs from afar, something that I have not felt in a very long time."

"I am not familiar with this presence," Luna feels a little intimidated by this worrisome feeling. "yet it sends shivers of fear down to my hooves."

"But I am, and I have every reason to fear it as you do, my young sister." said Celestia.

"But, if you and I sense it, shouldn't Cadance and Twilight do so, too?" asked Luna.

"I'm afraid not," replied Celestia, "Despite both of them being Alicorns, they have been so in a very short time, Cadance being so in a few years and Twilight had way less than that. Thus, their magic level is not developed in a way that both of ours have."

"Well, yes. That is true." Luna looked up to her sister in worry. "About that presence. May I ask, what happened...after my punishment you put on me?"

"Not now, but until I am sure of what we are facing, I will tell you and Twilight and her friends what I know." Celestia looked to the balcony on her right where the sun hangs over the mountains from afar, more worried than before. "I just hope that all of Equestria...and the world is fully prepared for what will be the most dreadful event ever to happen."

* * *

Very far southwest from Ponyville, there is a land called the Badlands, where a long single river runs through it, the ground looks cracked beyond belief, and few brown odd shaped mountains are everywhere. In the highest mountain of them all, there is a cave, large enough to fill a town.

Inside it are creatures flying about and doing nothing out of the ordinary. They look like ponies, but have characteristics of insects. Their coats are bluish gray, their manes are greenish black and have reflection-less arctic blue eyes. These are the Changelings, evil creatures that take the form of anypony and feed on the love of those they take form.

On a throne-like rock sits a taller and feminine Changeling. She has a dark cerulean mane and tail, a very dark gray coat, harlequin eyes with grayish opal pupils and very deep opal eyeshadow on her eyelids. She looks similar to an Alicorn, but with transparent insect wings, hole like legs, and a twisted chopped up horn. She has a bored look on her face and sighs.

"What has come to this?" said the large Changeling. "I, Queen Chrysalis, have thought of nothing to dominate all of Equestria since the last time me and my minions battled Twilight and her dear little friends at the Crystal Empire."

Chrysalis then went off the throne, feeling frustrated by the minute. "If I can't come up with a plan soon, I'll have to bash my head into these cave walls out of sheer madness!"

Suddenly, a dark soothing voice was heard in the echo of the cave. "How dreadful that would be."

Chrysalis and her minions are alerted to the voice. "Who's there?" shouted Chrysalis. "Show yourself, foal!"

The voice laughed in a way that made the minions feel intimidated. "Come now, no need to be alarmed. I just like to discuss some very grand business with you."

Then, black smoke whooshed in from the entrance of the cave and swirled around in front of Chrysalis who is surprised. The smoke dissipates, and there stood a stallion unicorn. He has a dark grey mane and tail, a pure black coat, and has a scar under his left closed eye. He opened only his right red eye, which gave a menacing look to him.

The minions backed away from him in fear, but Chrysalis stood her ground. "What do you want from me, little pony?"

The stallion smiled. "I lay it bluntly. I don't wish to do harm on you. I am here on behalf of my master who has heard of your many feats and wishes to make an alliance with you."

"And if I refuse?" asked Chrysalis.

"You don't have to decide right away." said the stallion. "But know this. My master will make sure that what you want will be provided instantly. And by being a part of something larger and grander then Equestria, perhaps the whole world, will your services go rewarded. Now, if you will excuse me, I must be off."

The stallion turned to leave.

"Wait!" said Chrysalis. "Just who are you to slip past my notice?"

The stallion turned to Chrysalis, nearly opening halfway his left eye. In the instant, Chrysalis gasped like she saw something frightening and nearly collapsed.

"For now, you can call me Azerrad." The stallion closed his left eye. "And I am as powerful as you, probably more then what you can comprehend. You can thank my master for that. If you have made your decision, just call my name. Only then can we get down to business."

Azerrad laughs as he disappears in smoke and exits the cave. Chrysalis looks at the entrance in shock and wonder. Who was that mysterious pony, and what does his master want Chrysalis for? These thoughts ran through her mind like the wind blowing faintly through the Badlands.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	3. Chapter 2

Some time has passed in Ponyville since Twilight Sparkle's return from the other world. Little by little, Starlight Glimmer progresses splendidly under Twilight's mentoring of magic. Sometimes, the Castle of Friendship will sense a problem in any part of Equestria and send any of the Mane Six there to fix it. Starlight usually tags along, so that she can learn more about friendship and apply the lessons learned to her future life.

However, a miracle is soon bound to happen, one Equestria had not experienced in a long time.

* * *

The Crystal Empire. A magnificent location in Equestria. It is where a different kind of pony species lives in called the Crystal Ponies. By being filled with emotion, and the Crystal Heart being kept under the Crystal Castle, the Crystal Ponies' bodies enter a crystal like form, changing their mane and tail for a stylized look and having their eyes look like crystals. Yes, they are a peaceful race that live happily in the Crystal Empire. It is ruled by Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, the former who used to be Twilight's foal sitter and the latter being her older brother.

Inside one of the royal bedrooms, Cadance is lying on her bed who is struggling a bit and breathing hard. She has light purple eyes, a violet mane and tail with rose and pale gold streaks, a cerise coat, wears a light gold crown with two light purple jewels and has a cutie mark of a light blue crystal heart between large golden laces with small flowers.

Beside her holding her hoof is her Unicorn husband, Shining Armor, who is very concerned for his wife's condition. He has cerulean eyes, a sapphire blue mane and tail with cerulean and dark phthalo blue streaks, a white coat, sapphire blue hooves, and a cutie mark of a pink six pointed star on a purple shield with three small light blue stars above.

On the other side of the bed is a Pegasus stallion who has orange eyes, a brown coat, a teal blue mane and tail, wears a doctor's coat and glasses and has a cutie mark of a baby carriage with a red cross behind it. He is checking Cadance's condition with his tools.

"You doing alright, Cadance?" asked Shining.

Cadance slowed her breathing a bit. "I think so." she replied, "Just following the tips the doctor laid out for my first experience of giving birth. You don't have to worry that much for me."

"Even so, I must continue doing so for our baby's sake." said Shining, "It's is a little early for it to come out yet."

"Guess it must be eager to see its new home and parents." Cadance smiled.

"Speaking of which," Shining Armor looked to a picture at one of the walls, showing him, Cadance, the Mane Six and Spike being happy near the Crystal Heart. "Should we send word to Twily and her friends that the baby will be coming soon and have them be here for you?"

"No."

Shining Armor is taken aback by that response and looks back at Cadance. "What? Why?"

"Knowing your sister, she might get the wrong idea that I'll pass on while giving birth," explained Cadance, "and make a panic attraction out of it. Twilight and her friends are too innocent for what will happen here soon, and you know that as well as I do."

"Hm, you have a point there." said Shining, "No, you're right. When the baby comes out and gets accommodated, we'll send the word to Twily that she and her friends can come to see it."

"Good idea." replied Cadance.

Suddenly, Cadance gasped and let out a loud grunt. This alerted Shining Armor and the doctor and they prepare for what's next.

"Oh, it hurts! It's coming! Oh!" Cadance moaned heavily.

"Cadance, it's okay! I'm here for you!" Shining Armor held firmly onto her hoof.

"My word!" the doctor exclaimed, "The baby is starting to get restless in there! It's not even past the point of the exact birth time!"

"Ah! It's poking at my insides! Oh my! It must be really eager to come out!" Cadance flailed a bit on her bed.

"Your Highness! You must take it easy!" the doctor said, "If we are not careful, you most of all, who knows what could happen to the baby!"

"He's right! You must stay strong!" Shining Armor has both of his hooves onto Cadance's.

"Ah, alright. Sorry. Ah!" Cadance grunted at the pain. "I'll be strong for everypony's sake."

Shining Armor looked back at the picture. 'I just hope Twily and her friends won't be too shocked about this.' he thought.

* * *

Everfree Forest. The wooded area near Ponyville, home to various creatures and animals. The ponies consider this place unnatural because it has the unusual quality of having its inhabitants thrive without the aid of ponies. In an open area, the white cloaked stallion appears from the woods and walks to the edge of a cliff. He notices a bridge, and upon coming near it, he sees a castle on the far side that is in ruins.

"Huh. That castle must be very old." The stallion looked around and noticed a cave entrance down to his right. "There. That must be where the legendary magic resides." He proceeds to step down a ledge of the cliff.

ZING!

The stallion gasped, like he saw a ghost. He looks to the northern sky and notices a faint aura glowing up there.

"I don't believe it!" said the stallion. "I sense...a presence being born into this world, and a very powerful one at that!" He stands in awe for a minute or so. "Ah, I'll figure that out later. I must witness that legendary magic I heard much about."

The stallion leaps off the cliff, somersaults as he falls down, then lands on the ground without a scratch on his hooves. He then trots to the cave entrance.

* * *

At the Badlands, inside the cave, Queen Chrysalis sits on her throne pondering over what the mysterious Unicorn, Azerrad, had told her. She had wanted to make Equestria hers, but never had she thought of world conquest, much less aid somepony else in doing so. But this master of Azerrad's offered something to Chrysalis that can realize her goals. As much as she hated to collaborate with other bad ponies, she hated to be defeated by Twilight and her friends either by a tiny or a large margin. Eventually, Chrysalis made up her mind.

"Attention, my pets!" Chrysalis shouted as she sat up. The Changelings stopped what they were doing and looked at their queen.

"As you are aware, a few days ago this Azerrad came before us and made me an offer." Chrysalis walked to the center of the cave. "This is unlike me to say this, but I believe that if I accept his offer, we shall conquer Equestria and the lands beyond. The question is, are all of you with me or not?"

Chrysalis looked at the Changelings menacingly. They looked at each other in consideration, and eventually they looked back at their queen and saluted her. This pleased Chrysalis. "Very well. You are wise to heed my commands."

Chrysalis exited the cave, and she took a deep breath. "AZERRAD!"

In a few seconds, the same black smoke appears again beside Chrysalis and Azerrad takes his form looking pleasantly at her. "Yes?"

"I am willing to accept the offer your master brought forth," said Chrysalis, "providing that you answer my questions first."

"I'm all ears." replied Azerrad.

"Will your master really provide want I want in an instant?"

"If you please him with your efforts, yes he will."

"If I do what he wants, will it guarantee that I will defeat my enemies slowly and painfully?"

"Without any doubt."

"One last question. Should I bring my pet Changelings along with me?"

Azerrad looked behind him at the Changelings and smiled. "Of course you can. It wouldn't hurt to bring an army for extra measure."

Chrysalis was suspicious of Azerrad's straight forward answers, but she went along with it. "Then I accept your master's offer."

"Excellent. Allow me to lead you to where my master resides." Azerrad's horn then glowed red, and he is levitated off the ground. Then he flies off like a Pegasus towards the southern horizon.

"Changelings! Follow that Unicorn!" Chrysalis flapped her wings and took off after Azerrad as the Changelings followed her. Whatever lies ahead for the queen of the Changelings may have a pleasant outcome, or a cruel one.

* * *

At the Castle of Friendship inside the library, Twilight, Spike and her five friends watch as Starlight prepares herself for practicing a new spell. Around Starlight are six piles of neatly stacked books, and beside her is an empty bookshelf. Doing something like this for the first time made Starlight pretty nervous, and everypony watching her in anticipation added to the pressure. Luckily, she took a few deep breaths to calm herself.

"No need to be nervous." Starlight said out loud to herself, "Just focus on what you are doing and everything will be okay. Right, Twilight?"

"Right as rain." replied Twilight. "You came this far in practicing. This will be the moment you shine in success."

"We'll be rooting for ya all the way!" said Rainbow Dash, "Me the loudest in the most awesome way."

Fluttershy tried to speak up. "Um, or the softest in the kindest way, if that's alright."

Rainbow Dash sighed at that lack of excitement. "The least you can do is be excited that Starlight is gonna be like how Twilight was before becoming a princess."

Applejack knocked on Rainbow Dash's shoulder a bit grabbing her attention. "Don't be so hard on the girl there, RD. Everypony has their own method of cheering, and honestly, ya'd expect most of them ta cheer like ya do."

"Yes, darling, this is Starlight we are talking about." Rarity chimed in, "If you disturb her ever so bluntly, she'll have to start all over again, not from scratch at the very least."

"Fine." Rainbow Dash sulked a bit, then returned to her regular attitude. "But I'll still be cheering when Starlight aces this practice test."

"Me too!" Pinkie blurted out. "But what if Starlight makes a mistake that will lead to her failing?" She then makes random concerned faces while talking. "If she fails, then-"

Pinkie gets cut off when Spike puts his right claws over her mouth. "Pinkie, please. This is the first time Starlight is gonna do this. We don't need any negative thoughts bouncing all around us. Let's think positive for just a few moments and we'll see what happens then, okay?" Pinkie nods while saying a muffled yes. "Good." Spike lifts his claws off of her mouth. Little did everypony notice that Pinkie blushed a bit.

"Okay, let's get this started." Twilight and her friends' attention are on Starlight. "Ready?"

Starlight gulped a bit. "Ready."

Starlight then closes her eyes in concentration. Her horn glowed a turquoise aura, and the piles of books around her glowed in the same aura. Starlight grunts as she lifts her head, while one pile of books levitates into the air. Then, with a little flick of her head towards the bookshelf, the books fly to it.

One by one, Starlight lifts each pile of books with her magic and quickly floats them to the bookshelf, putting them in the empty sections without as much as a bump at the corners. The Mane Six and Spike watch in awe at the excellent display of magic. As Starlight concentrates, a sudden vision flashed in her mind in a split second, showing a pony she never saw before. She opens her eyes in surprise, which breaks her concentration on the last pile of books. The glow faints off of them and they fall to the floor, as the Mane Six and Spike see in horror of that happening.

"Starlight!" Twilight cried out.

Starlight notices the falling books and refocuses her concentration on them. But then, as the books glowed in the aura of her horn, Starlight's body is enveloped in the same aura, and she floats upward. To the Mane Six and Spike's surprise, Starlight moves gracefully like a professional dancer as she quickly moves the books one by one to the last empty shelf. As the last book is placed, Starlight floats back down to the floor, and the aura faints off her body and horn as she lands.

When she opens her eyes, Starlight sees the Mane Six and Spike staring in awe, Rainbow Dash mostly what with her jaw nearly dropping all the way. Starlight notices the books she placed in the bookshelf neat and tidy and looks back to her friends. "Did I pass?" she asked nervously.

"That...was...AWESOME!" Rainbow Dash flew towards Starlight and gave her a hug which surprises the heliotrope Unicorn. "Catching that last pile of books in the nick of time and finishing in style, that's like, twenty percent as cool as the Wonderbolts' finale tricks!"

Rainbow Dash broke the hug, and her friends gather around Starlight to offer their praise to her. "For once, I'll agree with Rainbow Dash," Rarity said, "The way you moved gracefully is as fabulous as modelling in a fashion show."

"Ah honestly thought that little mistake would mess up your performance fer sure." Applejack adjusted her hat, "But that comeback is as swell as a zap apple ripenin' right up on a swell sunny day."

"Yay." Fluttershy whispered while circle her hoof on the floor, "I believe you did, um, really great, if you don't mind me saying so."

"Great?! More like she did absopositivelutely great!" Pinkie bounced a bit.

Starlight couldn't help but blush at all the positive comments given to her. She looked at Twilight who gave a warm smile. "So, as I asked, did I pass?"

"With flying colours." Twilight proudly put her hoof on Starlight's shoulder, "Even when you made that mistake, you recovered excellently. So, that's an A for your practice performance."

Starlight lightly beamed at the result given to her. Spike is about to say something, but then he feels something in his throat, which Applejack notices. "What's the matter, Spike?" she asked.

BURP!

Spike belched out a little burst of magical green flame, and out of the flame came a rolled up scroll with a seal on it. Everypony notices this, and Twilight takes the scroll with her magic.

"It's from Princess Celestia!" Twilight said. She unrolled the scroll and began to read it aloud as her friends and Starlight listened. "'Dear Princess Twilight, a miracle has happened at the Crystal Empire. Princess Cadance is sorry to not inform you of this earlier, but she intended it to be a surprise and not have you worry about her condition. It is my honour and pleasure to announce, that Princess Cadance'-" Twilight paused and looked at the rest of the sentence, and she immediately gasped a large gasp.

"What? What does it say?" Spike worriedly asked. Twilight's friends and Starlight are worried about her reaction as well.

Twilight looked up in a happy manner. "'Princess Cadance gave birth to a filly'!" she yelled.

Upon hearing this, the group cheered like they never cheered before, even Fluttershy's being surprisingly loud, and Rarity hugged Spike to his surprise. Of course Rarity noticed what she did and broke the hug, blushing a bit, and Spike blushed as well, still surprised.

"WOOHOO! I'm so excited!" Pinkie yelled as she bounced wildly, "Are you excited? I've never been this excited since seeing Mr. and Ms. Cake's twin babies, Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake! This calls for a baby shower party!"

Starlight approaches Twilight from her right. "Wow, Twilight. That means you're an aunt now. Congrats."

"Thanks, Starlight." A tear rolled down Twilight's joyous face.

"What else does the letter say?" asked Spike.

Twilight looks at the scroll again. "'You and your friends are welcome to hurry over to the Crystal Empire and witness the baby for yourselves. Me and Princess Luna will await your arrival. Sincerely, Princess Celestia.'"

"Aw, yeah!" Rainbow Dash flew above the group pumping her hooves into the air. "This is like twenty percent cooler than a regular baby shower!"

"What are we standin' around for?" Applejack said, "We've got a baby yearlin' to see!"

"I think the afternoon train will be leaving for the Crystal Empire." Twilight put down the scroll. "Let's get going!"

The Mane Six and Spike start to walk to the exit of the library, but when they got near it, they notice that Starlight is still standing there and look back at her in concern.

"Starlight? What's wrong?" asked Twilight.

"Don't get me wrong," Starlight replied, "I'd like to see the baby as much as all of you, but I figured I should keep this library, no, this castle neat and tidy until you all return."

"Come now, darling," Rarity said, "I'm sure the castle can handle being dusty for a few hours. This may be the one chance of a lifetime seeing a baby being born to a royal family!"

"Even so, I'd best stick around here and look after things in this castle." Starlight insisted, "It's the least I can do for the 'you know what happened.'"

The Mane Six are worried that Starlight is still thinking about what she did in the past. Spike is worried as well, but then has a determined look, and runs back to Starlight, which catch his friends' alertness.

"Spike?" called Twilight.

Spike stopped in front of Starlight. "Then you won't be doing it alone. We can make things quicker by working together here."

"I don't think that's-" Starlight gets cut off by Spike's held up claw.

"I insist, Starlight." Spike said with a smile. "That's what friends do." He then turned to look at the Mane Six. "You all go on ahead without me and Starlight! We'll handle things here while you meet the baby!"

"Are ya sure, Spike?" asked Applejack.

"Of course." replied Spike, "I'm sure we'll all see Princess Cadance and Shining Armor's kid together another day. For now, I want to keep Starlight company. A pony's and dragon's head are better together than one of the other."

The Mane Six and Starlight smiled softly at Spike's decision, even Rarity is a bit teary eyed by this. "That is very generous of you, Spiky-wikey." she said.

"And loyal, too!" Rainbow Dash chimed in, "We'll tell ya what the baby is like when we come back!"

The Mane Six said their goodbyes to Spike and Starlight and exited the library. As they leave, Starlight looks at Spike in confusion. "Why do you want to help me, Spike?"

Spike looks up at Starlight. "Simple, really. You're my friend. It doesn't matter what happened between us back then. Sometimes...it hurts on the inside to see you beat yourself up like that. As I told you before, you are forgiven for what you did. You being happy right now makes your friends happy, even me."

Starlight slowly felt teary eyed by Spike's explanation, and then hugged him hard, surprising Spike. "You are definitely a wise dragon anypony could ask for." Starlight said as tears went down her cheeks. "Thanks for staying behind for me."

Spike blushed at the compliment. "Aw, it's nothing." Spike broke the hug and Starlight wiped the tears off with her hoof.

"So, which part of the castle would you like to clean up?" Spike asked eagerly.

"For starters, your room." answered Starlight. "It's been pretty messy every time I glance in there."

Spike frowned a bit. "Oh. Guess I was busy lately it didn't came to mind."

"Well, if we clean it together," Starlight said, "An emerald spinach lasagna with your name on it will be-"

"Oh? Really?" Spike perked up from the mention of his favorite gem meal. "What are we waiting for? Let's get cleaning!"

Spike zoomed off to the other exit of the library and Starlight chuckled. 'Of course he doesn't have to know he'll get the lasagna once we clean the whole castle after we clean his room.' she thought. Starlight then trots out of the library after Spike. 'Still, that sudden vision I had during that practice test. It was so quick I didn't get a clear look at who that pony was. And yet, the form seems, familiar to me.' Starlight follows Spike down the hall, with the thought of that pony giving her more questions then what she can handle.

* * *

The hooded stallion approached the cave in the Everfree Forest. As he entered, he saw a majestic tree with crystal like branches and orbs of light attached with strings hanging over them. What caught his eye are the jewels locked in the ends of the five branches and the center of the tree.

"Whoa!" said the stallion, "Are those the Elements of Harmony?" The stallion then lifts his hood off to show his face. He has lilac eyes, a dark purple spiky mane, a silver coat, and is wearing a thin purple scarf with silver linings and gold tips on the ends. This is Zenith, the pony whose origins will be revealed in due time. He looks at the Elements more closely. "Looks different from what I read in those ancient books."

Indeed they do. The Elements are in different shapes, an orange apple, a pink butterfly, a blue balloon, a purple diamond, and a red lightning bolt. "At least the mysterious Element looks the same." Zenith sees the Element in the center of the tree, a magenta six pointed star.

Zenith then takes something out of his cloak. He unwraps it, and in his hoof is a bundle of small lilac petals attached to a branch. He smiled at it. "Granny, this is what you wished for all these years ago."

Zenith approached the tree and laid the flower down near the base of it. He stepped back to look at it and the tree. "You wanted to see the Elements of Harmony, and to entrust your last wish to me, I am honoured to do this for you. Laying your favorite flower, Syringa, near the Elements of Harmony, as a way of witnessing them for the first time. I should offer my thanks as well, for seeing these legendary Elements for the first time brings a hint of...hope."

He turns around and exits the cave. "A special kind of hope that things will be bright for my destiny."

Zenith then leaps upward, somersaults and lands near the bridge. He then trots off to the woods with a soft smile on his face.

Little did he notice, that in the center of that tree, the star shaped Element seemed to get a bit dull in colour, and the top arc of the Element cracked a bit from its left. At that moment, a dark and evil breath is heard. Whatever this kind of sign is, it does not look good for Equestria.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	4. Chapter 3

As the steam locomotive train arrives at the station nearby the Crystal Empire, the Mane Six exit the coaches and walk to the grand location. By the time the Mane Six started walking towards the castle, they see plenty of Crystal Ponies in groups talking to each other. A stallion notices the Mane Six excitedly and points his hoof at them. "Look!" he said, "Its Princess Twilight and her friends!"

The other Crystal Ponies took notice and cheered for Twilight. They didn't come over to her like fans to a celebrity, but they cheered for her and made plenty of compliments as follows. "Congratulations, Your Highness!" "Princess Cadance and Shining Armor ought to be proud of you!" "You're an aunt, now!" "The rulers' baby is something to behold!"

Twilight couldn't help but blush from the attention and compliments and chuckled sheepishly. "Thanks, everypony."

"Look at that." Applejack said, "The news of the baby spread quicker than the Apple family reunion gatherin' at Sweet Apple Acres."

"Ooooohhh, that makes me even more excited!" Pinkie happily bounced. "Normally I throw a party for something that happened, but if there's already a party going on, I'd like to get into the groove of it!"

"Well, normally I'd pack everything I need to be presentable," Rarity groomed through her stylized mane with her hoof, "but since it won't take long to see the baby, I feel presentable enough. Though I wish Spikey-wikey could've come along."

"I'm sure Spike's reason to stay behind is a good one," Fluttershy reassuringly put her hoof on Rarity's shoulder, "I think it's very nice of him to help Starlight out at the Castle of Friendship in exchange for the chance of seeing the baby."

"Mmm, yes. I suppose it is." Rarity smiled softly.

"So! What kind of pony will Princess Cadance's and Shining Armor's baby be?" Rainbow Dash proudly flew above the group doing some stunts. "Would it be a strong and tough Earth Pony, a magically talented Unicorn, or a swift and agile 'loop-de-loop around and wham!' Pegasus?"

"The letter didn't say anything about that." Twilight said. "We'll just have to see for ourselves what the baby will be. Though I'm pretty nervous of how to be an aunt."

"That's okay, sugarcube," Applejack replied, "Jus' remember that we'll help ya with whatever job or problem ya need ta be solved."

The other girls nod in agreement, and Twilight smiled at this. "Thanks, guys." They then enter the castle.

* * *

In the Everfree Forest, Zenith the silver coated stallion in his white cloak calmly walked through the densest part of the forest. Despite the many unusual shaped trees and the strange sounds from the hidden creatures and animals, his face showed happiness and boldness. But then, doubt started to draw upon Zenith's face, and he stopped walking.

"Am I rushing this?" he said to himself. "Heading to Ponyville because of the feeling that SHE might be there, that pony who can help find my destiny? She wasn't born there, that's for sure. She still could be living in Canterlot...where those...high class..." Zenith trailed off due to thinking about Canterlot and the ponies living there. Somehow the thought of it made his eyes narrow in anger, but he quickly shakes it off. "Nah. I'm sure she wouldn't let those kinds of beliefs get to her."

Just then, Zenith heard some giggling of fillies up ahead. He quickly ran to his right, jumped over the bushes and hid behind a tree. The stallion looked from behind the tree to where he heard the giggling. Coming into view, walking down the path is three little fillies, two of them giggling and the other looking worried.

The middle Earth filly has an amaranth mane, a light yellow coat, orange eyes and a pink bow behind her mane. To her right is a Pegasus filly who has a moderate cerise mane, a light orange coat and grayish purple eyes. And to the Earth filly's left is a Unicorn filly who has a white coat, a grayish mulberry mane with light pale rose streaks and light harlequin eyes. The Earth filly and Pegasus filly are giggling while the Unicorn filly looks worried.

What Zenith notices is that those three fillies have the same yet similar cutie marks, consisting of a three bar coloured shield and a purple symbol having a magenta symbol inside. "Now what the ding dong are those fillies thinking, walking through this dangerous forest by themselves like that?" he says quietly to himself.

"This shortcut to Zecora's hut is the best idea, Apple Bloom!" the Pegasus filly said.

"It sure is, Scootaloo." Apple Bloom responded in her southern drawl, "Ah jus' can't believe Ah didn't think of this sooner!"

"I don't know, guys," the Unicorn filly said in concern, "Is this really worth doing because of how our cutie marks show our 'maturity'?"

"Oh, don't be so worried, Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo flapped her wings a bit and took off a bit until she landed on the ground. "We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders! We used to crusade on finding our talents, now we focus on crusading on doing bigger things like other big ponies!"

"Yeah, no need ta be so down about this." said Apple Bloom.

"I know, but aren't we rushing this?" asked Sweetie. "As in, thinking a bit too big on this matter and end up getting in danger?"

"We're big ponies now!" Scootaloo said, "There's nothing we can't handle, including danger!"

Zenith chuckles to himself. 'Kids. Most of them thinking they can handle what comes their way.' he thought.

Suddenly, something jumps from the other bushes and lands in front of the fillies with a thud. They fearfully look up at what looms down on them. It is a large reptile like creature with dark grayish apple green skin, tangeloish black scales and light orange eyes. It snorts its breath on the scared fillies.

"A cragadile!" Apple Bloom shouts.

Scootaloo readied herself for a fight, "What's the plan?"

"RUN!" Sweetie responded loudly.

The fillies, aside from Scootaloo who grunts, scream and start to run in the opposite direction and the cragadile gives chase. Zenith sees what happened in shock, but then regains his composure, puts on his hood and gallops after them.

The fillies run as fast as they could, but the cragadile seems to be getting closer to them.

"Its gaining on us!" screamed Sweetie.

"I could've taken it on bare hoofed, and whose idea was it to take this shortcut, huh?" Scootaloo yelled.

"This ain't the time ta be so hot shot!" huffed Apple Bloom, "And Ah'm sorry, ya'll! Its mah fault all this happened! Ah jus' wanted ta prove how responsible we are since we got our cutie marks!"

"Forget that!" yelled Sweetie, "But in case we don't get outta here, I just want both of you to know, that you're the bestest of friends I could ever ask for!"

"Me, too!" huffed Scootaloo.

"Same fer me!" said Apple Bloom, "If we go down, we'll go down as the Cutie Mark Crusaders!"

"YEAH!" the fillies shouted.

The cragadile roared as it gained on them and the fillies resumed screaming as they ran. The cragadile then leaped up and opened its mouth, ready to chomp down on Sweetie who looked up and felt that this is it for her...

YOINK!

But the cragadile suddenly felt its tail get grabbed tightly. Before it could look behind it, the cragadile feels itself being lifted into the air. The fillies stop running to look behind them, and what they saw shocked them. Holding onto the tail around his legs is the white hooded stallion. He pulls the cragadile down by its tail from the air and...

BOOM!

Smashes it hard onto the ground on its back. The impact shook the ground, making the fillies tumble a bit. They look back at the stallion who now just stands there. The cragadile rolls to its right, back onto its feet and turns around angrily to face the stallion, but its face quickly turns to fear, for under the hood, the furious, shrunken eyes of the stallion glared at it immensely.

"Get lost." Zenith said in a deadpan yet menacingly tone. The cragadile flinched, and then ran back down the path disappearing into the forest. The stallion turned around to see the jaw dropped faces of the fillies.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders! What brings you here, foolishly running into danger and fear?" a female voice called from the forest. The fillies and the stallion look to the other side of the path and see a female Zebra coming out from the forest. She has strong cyan eyes, indigoish black hooves, a light gray mane and coat with bluish gray stripes, has amber coloured jewellery on her right ear, left fore leg, and around her neck. What Zenith noticed is that the Zebra has a cutie mark of a grey spiral sun.

The Zebra has a look of anger and disappointment as she approached the fillies who looked sorry. "Screams of fear and sounds of trouble I heard," the Zebra said sternly, "and quickly I left my hut like a swift bird. A cragadile pursued you three I saw, and I was not quick to save you from its jaws."

The fillies felt ashamed. "We're sorry, Zecora." said Apple Bloom, "Ah dragged Scootaloo and Sweetie into this mess jus' to go to yer hut so that we prove we can do big things like other ponies since we got our cutie marks."

"You should be ashamed for committing this act," Zecora glared at the fillies, "Your families would have been devastated to hear this fact."

"But we got saved by that pony in the white robe!" Scootaloo blurted out, "And the way he pounded down that cragadile was awesome!"

"Don't get cocky, kid." Zenith said as he approached the fillies and Zecora who looked at him. "Just because you three got cutie marks doesn't mean you're big ponies in an instant. You're lucky I saw you being chased by that...crag something and dealt with it."

They didn't notice Sweetie Belle looking at Zenith in awe. It's a shame his face is covered by his white hood, but not only did his voice sound gentlecolt like and soothing, but his dark purple hooves looked very masculine and defined. These thoughts made Sweetie's cheeks blush a faint pink.

"And grateful I am to you for saving my filly friends," Zecora bowed to the stallion. "Were it not for your actions they would have met their end."

Zenith shook his head. "No need for thanks, foreigner of Zebrica."

Zecora and the fillies aside from Sweetie gasp. "Zebrica?" Scootaloo said confusingly. "That's where you came from, Zecora?"

Zecora softly nodded. "It is true that it was my home filled with gladness," She said sadly, "Though to hear its name now brings my mind to sadness."

"Ya mean, something bad happened there that made ya came all the way ta Equestria?" Apple Bloom asked.

"That is a story for another day," Zecora replied as she turned to the fillies, "For now, your punishment will see no delay."

"Oh, yeah." Apple Bloom chuckled nervously. "Nearly forgot about that."

"Yeah, what she said." Scootaloo added.

"We must leave this forest in haste," said Zecora, "before more danger is to be faced. To your sisters we shall meet, to seek what punishment you are to greet."

"About that," Apple Bloom circled the ground with her hoof while looking sheepishly up at Zecora, "Princess Twilight and her friends left for the Crystal Empire to see Princess Cadance's and Shining Armor's newborn filly, and Scootaloo, Sweetie and I went ta see them off. That was when we decided ta come see you, and ya'll know the rest."

Zecora sighed, "Such news of your plan is not sweet, I know not why you think of such feats."

Zenith is nearly surprised of what Apple Bloom said. 'Princess...Twilight?' he thought, 'Crystal Empire? Is that where I sensed that powerful presence being born?' He then noticed Sweetie looking at him. "You all right, little Unicorn?"

All attention turned to Sweetie, who appears to be drooling a bit and still blushing. Scootaloo immediately laughed after seeing Sweetie's zoned out face. "Hey, Sweetie! You hungry or something?"

"Scootaloo, that ain't funny!" Apple Bloom sternly said.

Sweetie snapped out of her trance and noticed her drool. "Huh? Eww!" She spat it out to the ground. "Uh, what are we talking about?"

"Haven't you been paying attention?" Scootaloo recovered from her laughing spree, "Zecora came from this country called 'Zebrica' and now we'll be grounded for walking into the Everfree Forest alone."

"Oh." Sweetie looked down, "Sorry. I was, uh, thinking of how to, uh, thank this...pony who...saved us." Sweetie blushed as she glanced at Zenith, and Apple Bloom is surprised at Sweetie's behaviour, yet smiled mischievously.

"As I said, no need for thanks." Zenith repeated, "Just knowing that you are safe is enough for me. Just promise that you won't go anywhere dangerous without a guardian to aid you. Clear?"

Scootaloo saluted. "Crystal clear!"

"Ah promise." Apple Bloom said.

"Uh, I-I promise." Sweetie nervously replied.

"There is one thing I do not understand," Zecora turned to the stallion, "the way you intimidated the cragadile was grand. Never had I seen anypony like you, doing such a feat is an interesting clue."

"Let's just say I practice a lot." Zenith chuckled a bit, "Still, it is unlike that cragadile to wonder off from its swamp. I noticed that there was something...off about it."

Zecora pondered at this. "Yes, it is a strange sight, for it to make such a plight."

"Well, I'm sure you'll have a chance to figure it out." Zenith said, "I'd best be off."

"Where are you going?" asked Scootaloo.

"To the north." replied Zenith, "I haven't been there yet, so it would be a good time to witness something new with my own eyes." he turned right and looked at Zecora and the fillies. "You fillies stay out of trouble now, you hear?"

"Yes, sir!" said Apple Bloom.

"Aye-aye!" Scootaloo saluted again.

Zenith then leaped high into the air, somersaulted, and landed on the top of a tree, which Zecora and the fillies are surprised at. Before he can leave...

"Wait!" Sweetie yelled. Zenith looked down at Sweetie who blushed a bit. "Um...I-uh, we didn't get your name!"

Zenith smiled, and Sweetie swore she saw for a few seconds the face of the stallion. "For now, you can refer to me as, 'Zenith the Zealous'!" called Zenith, "But please, keep that name under wraps, at least until the time is right. Okay?"

Zenith winked at Sweetie who gasped at the sight. Then, he leaped off the tree to another one and is not seen again. Zecora, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo notice that Sweetie made a heavenly sigh as she looks at where the stallion left.

"Ah knew it." Apple Bloom smiled cheekily.

"Huh? Knew what?" Scootaloo asked.

"Sweetie has a crush on our hero, or her hero in her case."

Sweetie blushed a bright pink and turned towards her friends aggressively. "What?! No! Why would I-? He- I- He's a bit old for me!"

"A 'BIT?'" Apple Bloom chuckled at that, "Don't you mean a 'lot?'"

"Well, uh, he- I- uh," Sweetie stammered while blushing like crazy.

"Alright, little ponies, that's enough," Zecora called out, "at home you can deal with this fluff. Now, let's make haste for Ponyville, where I'm sure your punishment will be quite a thrill."

"Yes, Zecora." the fillies shamefully said in unison as they followed Zecora.

"'Zenith the Zealous'?" wondered Scootaloo out loud, "Doesn't sound that cool."

"Ah think that's a nice name." Apple Bloom replied, "Don't ya agree, Sweetie?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah, very nice name." Sweetie said.

"Still thinking about that 'handsome' stallion?" Apple Bloom gave Sweetie that look.

"Ah- Uh, well," Sweetie stammered a bit, "Look, let's- uh, let's keep his name a secret like he told us, okay?"

"I don't recall being told by him to keep such secrets." Scootaloo responded.

"Please?" Sweetie desperately pleaded to her friends.

"Okay, okay, we'll keep it a secret." answered Apple Bloom.

Scootaloo frustratingly sighed. "Fine. Just don't come crying to me if you get spanked."

Zecora overhears all of this and smiled a bit. It wasn't long before they reached the edge of Everfree Forest, and the punishment that awaits the Cutie Mark Crusaders might be a suitable one.

* * *

At the far edge of the Badlands, beside the dried up river lies a strange door shaped rock ebbed into the rocky wall. The sound of buzzing is heard, and the Changelings are following the black Unicorn who is floating with his magic. Beside him is Queen Chrysalis, the ruler of the Changelings. They land near the door, while most of the Changelings stay airborne.

"This is it, Azerrad? You dragged me and my pets all the way over here to view this rock?" the Changeling Queen asked in a not amused manner.

"It may seem to be a rock," Azerrad replied stepping forward to the door, "But with the right magic can it be revealed for what it is. Allow me to open this door, where it will lead to my master."

Azerrad closed his right eye to concentrate, and his horn glowed red. The rock glowed in the same color, and to Chrysalis's surprise, a strange symbol appeared on it. Then, the rock split in two and the two pieces moved like a door, to reveal a staircase leading down in a cave. Chrysalis and the Changelings are amazed by this. Azerrad then levitated himself with his magic. "Let's make haste." he said, "My master's patience sometimes runs thin, and things could get messy when he loses patience."

Azerrad then quickly flew down to the cave, as Chrysalis and her Changelings follow suit. As the last Changeling enters the cave, the doors then close and the symbol disappears off of it.

For a few seconds Azerrad, Chrysalis and the Changelings flew above the staircase down into the cave. Chrysalis notices that the further they flew down, the walls expand bigger, which she believes that the entrance must be large.

Eventually, they arrive at the entrance. Chrysalis sees to her awe that the cave is very large, probably less larger than the height of the Crystal Castle. Azerrad lands on the ground, and Chrysalis and the Changelings do so. The black Unicorn walks towards a large rock, where at the base of it stands a figure of intimidating stature. Azerrad kneels before the figure.

"Master," Azerrad said, "Allow me to present, Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings. She has accepted the offer you brought forth as you believed she would."

At that moment, a dark and menacing breath is heard. It is coming from the figure and it repeats over and over.

"Well done, Azerrad." The figure spoke in a soothing yet threatening voice. He turned around, and to Chrysalis's and the Changeling's shock, it looks like a pony, only taller and lots of black smoke covers his body. The only things visible is his black hooves and a frightening black helmet on his head. The helmet looks simple yet scary, covering his eyes yet leaving his mouth visible. Chrysalis notices that on the helmet is a horn where the left side of it seems to be chipped off, which makes her think that he is a Unicorn.

But she is proven wrong.

Behind the figure a large smoky wing folds out from the right side of his body as large as himself. Such a sight brought a pinch of fear and awe to Chrysalis, and the Changelings feel more frightened by the minute of being near the figure.

"Greetings, Queen Chrysalis," said the figure, "I have been expecting you. You were wise to heed my words relayed to you."

Chrysalis mustered up her courage to speak. "Who...w-who are you?"

"I have gone by many names for a long time of being imprisoned." replied the figure, "But my real name shall be the one you will do well to remember as you join me in my grand plan for Equestria and the world, for my name is..."

Chrysalis gulped as Azerrad smiled smugly at the state she is in, as the figure says his name, "Dark Shadow."

TO BE CONTINUED...


	5. Chapter 4

Chrysalis couldn't help but feel so intimidated by the name the figure introduced himself as, and never in her life had she felt this way before.

"Dark...Shadow?" Chrysalis anxiously repeated.

"That's right." said Dark Shadow, "And from here on in, you will address me as 'Lord Shadow.' Understood?" He says the last word in a threatening tone.

"Y-Yes, Lord Shadow." answered Chrysalis.

Dark Shadow glared at Chrysalis who seems confused yet frightened. She felt a nudge on her leg and noticed Azerrad getting her attention.

"You must kneel or bow to your new master when you address him so," whispered Azerrad, "otherwise he won't go easy on you. Trust me, I know that experience far too well."

Chrysalis is conflicted about what Azerrad told her, and looked back at her Changelings. They look at her in concern and doubt. But then, one of them took a step forward which surprised Chrysalis, and Dark Shadow noticed this. The Changeling that stepped forward looked at Chrysalis with an apologetic smile, and kneeled to her while keeping eye contact, and nodded once. The other Changelings soon do the same thing. Somehow, such a sight brought a new feeling to the Changeling Queen, one she never thought she would feel. To her she feels...moved. Moved by the Changelings being okay with whatever command Chrysalis ordered, even bowing to a being more powerful than she.

Chrysalis then turned back to Dark Shadow, and kneeled. "I mean, yes, Dark Shadow. Whatever you command, me and my Changelings will obey...until you see me unfit for your services, or when I have betrayed you."

Dark Shadow smiled at this. "I doubt that I will regret it. Rise, Azerrad and Chrysalis."

Chrysalis and Azerrad got up, the former feeling a bit agitated that Dark Shadow didn't address her as Queen, but since Chrysalis decided to obey him, she will have to get used to it, otherwise she'll regret it.

"It is amusing that you decided to join me on this day in particular," said Dark Shadow, "for I have sensed a powerful presence being born into this land, one whose energy matches that of the princesses of the sun and moon."

"A powerful being, as strong as Celestia and Luna?" asked Chrysalis.

Azerrad raised his eyebrow at the mention of Luna.

"Yes." responded the dark being, "It took me a while, but I broke the spell Celestia cast that renders any outsiders from taking a look at what happens around Equestria."

Dark Shadow raised his hoof, and a black orb appears out of thin air. "Take a look at what will be revealed, for this information will be vital for one of our many plans."

The orb expands, and it magically shows a view that Chrysalis recognizes, the Crystal Empire. It zooms in to the inside of the castle, in one of the halls where Chrysalis sees the six figures she knows all too well...

* * *

The Mane Six walk down the hallway to the room the baby is kept under care. Twilight notices Shining Armor standing on the far side of the door, but it seems his mane is a little messed up.

"Shining Armor!" Twilight called. Shining Armor sees the Mane Six and smiles as they approach him.

"Hey, Twily!" Shining and Twilight hug for a bit. "Hey, girls. Glad you made it here. Uh, where's Spike?"

Twilight and Shining break the hug. "He stayed behind at the Castle of Friendship to help Starlight with the chores." Twilight answered.

"Huh, that's a shame." Shining said, "though there's always next time. Oh, and sorry for keeping the news under wraps 'til now. Cadance is still a bit tired when our filly got born and-"

"Say no more, sugarcube." Applejack interrupted, "Pardon me cuttin' in line, but we understand how stressful it is for mares to go through that experience. Ah know that from mah young days pretty darn well."

"Well, most of us don't." Rainbow Dash said.

Rarity gasped a bit at the sight of Shining Armor's mane. "By the stars, Shining! Your grand mane!"

Shining Armor notices and blushed at the statement. "Uh, yeah, pretty bad, huh? The filly is a pretty big hoof full so far, so Cadance sent word to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna about our little trouble."

"And Princess Celestia sent that letter to us about the news, right?" Twilight asked.

"Bingo." answered Shining Armor.

"I could think of plenty of reasons how your mane got so untidy," Rarity said, "concerning which type of pony your precious baby is, but we'll get to that eventually."

"Can we take a look at the baby now, please?!" Pinkie said quickly while bouncing in her excitement, "Sorry, but I just can't handle being this excited that I might break apart, which I already did since I had to keep a secret that Princess Cadance and Shining Armor are having a baby-!" Pinkie gasped and clasped her mouth with her hooves. Everypony's eyes are on Pinkie, having a mixture of surprise and suspicion.

"What do you mean 'secret'?" Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes at Pinkie in close space, "You mean you learned of the baby and kept it to yourself?!"

Applejack pulled Rainbow Dash by the tail with her mouth. "Give her space, RD!"

"Pinkie, is that true?" asked Twilight.

"I'm sorry!" Pinkie blurted out, "I learned from Mr. and Mrs. Cake about the baby and tried to hold it in, even when Twilight's brother told me to keep it up a little bit longer! It was so stressful I couldn't take it, so much so that I might explode!"

"At ease!" Shining Armor called out, getting the Mane Six's attention. "It was unintentional that Pinkie learned of the baby too soon, but that is in the past, and everypony knows about it now."

"Still, I am sorry that I kept it a secret," Pinkie bowed her head in regret. She feels a hoof being put on her shoulder and sees Rarity giving a forgiving smile.

"That's quite alright, dear," said the white unicorn, "blurting out a secret is certainly no fun, but having to hold it in against your will is definitely not relaxing. Trust me, I have once been on that kind of stage, and I bet that everypony you know has been there too."

Pinkie sees her friends nodding while giving understanding smiles, except for Rainbow Dash who still looks confused, until Applejack nudges her shoulder and she chuckles a bit. "Well, I guess that's understandable," Rainbow Dash mumbled, "But keeping your mouth shut like your life depended on it? That's twenty percent cool, no doubt about it."

"Aw, it was nothing." Pinkie blushed while raising her hoof behind her head.

"Um, so, shall we come in and meet the baby, if you don't mind me asking?" Fluttershy asked.

"Of course you can. Wouldn't want to keep the baby waiting." Shining Armor replied, "Though...I should probably tell you. Seeing the baby might be a...bit of a shock."

Twilight, being amused a bit by Shining Armor's quick concern, uses her magic to open the door and enters it as her friends and brother follow her. "Come on, big brother. I met babies before. I expect meeting this one won't be any different."

When they enter the room, the Mane Six see the three Alicorns present standing around a baby bed, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna standing beside it, and Princess Cadance standing at a distance, who's mane is as messed up similarly as Shining Armor's. They bow to Twilight as she and her friends come in. Twilight takes a good look at the baby while making room for her friends to see.

On that bed, wrapped in a bright cyan blanket with a gold pin holding it together, is the newborn filly of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor. She has a white coat with very light pinkish hue, a light purple and pink mane, and a horn, thus making her a Unicorn. The baby filly's eyes start to open slowly, showing her bright cyan eyes to everypony and looks up at Twilight with eagerness. Twilight and her friends couldn't help but be in their own state of, as they say, 'd'awwwwww' emotion while looking at the baby, including Rainbow Dash. Then, the baby immediately moves out of the blanket, though her hooves are in place, and as it is completely out...

The Mane Six are shocked.

While the baby is wearing a bright cyan diaper, the major focus on her are the majestic wings as large as her head attached to her back. This baby isn't a Unicorn, she is an Alicorn! The baby giggles while the Mane Six are still in shock.

"Of course, I could be wrong." Twilight says anxiously.

Then, the baby starts to feel a little tickle in her nose. The tickling gets stronger as she takes quick breaths. Princess Cadance and Shining Armor get panicked faces, which Twilight notices. But then the tickling is gone as the baby breathes comfortably, which makes Cadance and Shining Armor sigh in relief...

"AH-CHOO!"

But the baby sneezes. In that split second, her horn shoots out a magic blast, which alerts everypony in the room. The blast bounces off the floor, ceiling and walls while mostly everypony attempts to dodge it.

"EEP!" Fluttershy yelped as the blast bounced off the floor beside her.

"Yikes!" Pinkie says as the blast whizzed past her.

"Whoa, nelly!" Applejack jumps back before the blast reached her face.

"Ah! Not again!" Shining Armor jumps out of the blasts way.

The blast zooms past between Celestia and Luna as they look surprised.

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash ducked the blast from behind.

Rarity makes a somewhat dramatic yelp as she dodged the blast and makes a fainting stunt, only for Fluttershy to catch her before she fell.

"Ah!" Princess Cadance puts her hooves over the baby to shield her from the blast. "Celestia!"

"On it!" responded Celestia. She nods to Luna, which she responds with her own, and both of their horns glowed, making the blast being surrounded by their glows. The blast jiggles and sways about like it will explode, so Celestia and Luna move their heads to an open window which makes the blast fly out of there. As Celestia and Luna release their hold on the blast...

BOOM!

It explodes into a display of fireworks. The Crystal Ponies notice this and cheer proudly. Everypony in the room on the other hoof, besides Celestia and Luna, look pretty surprised and startled as they get back up, and Cadance removes her hooves off of the baby bed while the baby giggles some more.

"Okay, what in the hay just happened?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Before anypony could answer, a male honeyed voice's laugh echoes in the room, and a flash of white light appears in a second to reveal a creature who is laughing.

The creature has yellow eyes with crimson pupils, white eyebrows, a small dark mane, and a part gray part brown coat. His snake like body has a random assortment of body parts consisting of a goat's beard, one long fang in his mouth, a snake's tongue, a lion's paw, an eagle's claw, a lizard's foot, a goat's hoof, a dear antler and goat horn on his head, a bat and Pegasus wing on his back and a dark red dragon tail with a white tip. The creature catches his breath.

"What a priceless sight!" the creature says, "I've seen a lot of shocked faces in my lifetime, but the ones Fluttershy and her friends made certainly takes the cake!" With a snap of his fingers, a piece of chocolate cake appears in the creature's paw, and he quickly throws it into his mouth in one gulp. "Mm, chocolaty."

"Discord!" Fluttershy happily flew up to the creature and gave him a hug which surprises him. "I didn't know you would be meeting the baby."

"Well, that's part of the reason I came here." They break the hug and everypony exchanges their greetings with Discord.

"Greetings, Discord." Luna bows her head a bit to the creature, "What brings you here to the Crystal Empire?"

"Yes, it is unexpected of you to, as they say, 'pop out of nowhere.'" Celestia added.

"It's simple, really," Discord replied, "I was in my dimension thinking of some new jokes for my stand alone comedy act, when all of a sudden I sensed a big- no, GIANT magical surge of power all the way over here."

"You can sense magic?" Twilight asked.

Discord leaned in to Twilight's side. "Duh. I take it you don't?" he asked back.

Twilight shook her head, "I never read anything about that kind of magical power."

"Why am I not surprised?" Discord said with an unamused face, "Alicorns can do that, but only Princess Celestia and Princess Luna here are able to do so. You and Princess Cadance, I'm afraid, are not."

"Sounds more extreme than my Pinkie Sense!" Pinkie chimed in, "And even more amazing than a victory party!"

Discord then disappears and reappears beside Cadance. "But I'll tell you about that another time. Now, where was I? Ah, yes. When I sensed it, the magical surge had me intrigued, so I took my time flying over here. As I got close, I sensed it again and saw the grand display of fireworks erupting near that window." Discord pointed to the open window. "And what do I find?"

Discord then reappears on top of the cover of the baby bed, "Those surges came from this baby! And an Alicorn one at that!" He laughs a bit while everypony else smirked at his antics. "I take it this baby caused a storm of mischief?"

"Not exactly, and not on purpose either," Shining Armor walked up to Cadance and put his foreleg on her shoulder, "When Cadance and I took care of it for some time after birth, our baby made that kind of sneeze you all saw, and shot out that magic blast."

"The blast that was bouncing all over this room?" Pinkie asked.

"That's right," Cadance nuzzled her husband, "it was very startling. After settling down our baby, I contacted Celestia and Luna about it and they came here as fast as they could."

"Wait a moment!" Discord called out, "Before somepony else explains something, I'm sure they'd like to know the name you gave to the newborn Alicorn."

"Oh, yeah, nearly forgot about that." Twilight chuckled a bit, "So, what's the baby's name?"

"Yes, please tell us." Rarity said, stroking her mane, "We are just dying to find out."

"It was hard to come up with a name," Cadance explained, "but seeing our daughter hugging me and offering hugs a lot, we decided on one."

"Then what's the name?" Rainbow Dash asked, pumping herself up like waiting to see a major stunt finale.

Shining Armor and Cadance looked at each other, and back at everypony and said together, "Flurry Heart."

The Mane Six went 'aww' at the name. "That name sounds so lovely." said Fluttershy.

"That sounds as cute as mah sister's little drawing of me and her under an apple tree." Applejack responded.

"It is so splendid and divine." Rarity claimed, "Why, I just had an inspiration of making a little dress gift for the baby."

"Speaking of gifts," Discord reappeared in front of the baby bed looking at the baby, "I already thought of one for this filly," He snapped his fingers and a cyan pacifier appears in his claw as Flurry Heart looks at Discord curiously, "because what I have here, is a sucker for the little sucker," Discord puts his paw under the baby's chin and moves the pacifier close to her mouth, "here you go, you just-"

CRACK!

Flurry Heart grabs Discord's paw with her hooves so hard he yelped loudly at the pain. Everypony is surprised at this as Discord tries to pull his paw out of the baby's hugging grasp. Eventually he pulled his paw out, while Flurry Heart giggles at Discord. Rainbow Dash laughs at what happened to Discord until Applejack knocks her shoulder to stop it, and she chuckles sheepishly.

"Yeesh, pretty strong for a filly." Discord mumbled as his paw swells a bit in pain.

"Oh, dear," Fluttershy flew up to inspect Discord's paw, "Your poor paw. I hope it isn't hurting too bad."

"Kind of stings, but I will take it easy on it." Discord replies reassuringly.

"I don't mean to be blunt, Flurry Heart here is twenty percent cool, and cute, but what were the chances of her being born an Alicorn?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I'm still surprised about that myself!" said Twilight.

"That's a good question," Celestia said, "Never in probably more than a thousand years had an Alicorn been born into the land of Equestria until now. Even when I rewarded Cadance for her great deeds by transforming her into an Alicorn, I doubt that it had anything to do with the birth of Flurry Heart."

"So, Flurry Heart is born normally, like you and Princess Luna were?" asked Twilight.

"Exactly," Luna replied, "And since she is as powerful as me and my sister, Flurry Heart is still young. So teaching her to control her magic is a difficult task."

"So, Twily, if it isn't too much trouble," Shining Armor said as Twilight turned her attention to him, "would you like to teach Flurry Heart how to keep her magic under control when we call for you or when we come to visit you?"

Twilight is surprised, and a little nervous. "Gee, that's a pretty big request." she said, "I may have to look up a book on raising a baby," Twilight turned to her friends, "and ask my friends for some help if they're up to it."

Twilight's friends smiled warmly at her generous offer. "Of course I'll be up to it!" Pinkie yelled happily, "Mr. and Mrs. Cake depend on me to look after their twin babies, so if you need advice on how to make them laugh and smile, and of course clean up after them, I'm your gal for the job!"

"We'll be glad ta help ya, sugarcube," said Applejack, "There's nothin' in Equestria we can't handle when we have friends ta help out."

They nod in agreement, and Twilight smiles at this. "Thanks, girls."

"So, that's a yes?" Cadance asked.

"Yes, we'll certainly help Flurry Heart with her magic." Twilight responded.

"Wonderful!" Discord said, "I'll provide the entertainment, for the baby's tastes, and grip, that is."

Mostly everypony laughs, even Flurry Heart giggles without a care in the world. But, that could change and bring in more than what Twilight and her friends bargained for...

* * *

The black orb disappears, and the shrouded pony smiles. "So, a young Alicorn is born into this world. Such a miracle never occurred in the last thousand years."

"What's the plan then, if I dare to ask?" Chrysalis asked.

"It's quite simple." Dark Shadow responds, "To prove your worth and allegiance to me, you are to go to the Crystal Empire, ponynap that little Alicorn and bring it to me, alive."

Chrysalis is surprised at this order. "But, Lord Shadow, there is no telling what magical outburst that baby will unleash even if I try to nab it while taking on somepony else's form."

"I didn't say you will do this alone," Dark Shadow replied, "my apprentice, Azerrad, will aid you."

"Yes, my master." said Azerrad.

"Forgive my rudeness, Lord Shadow," Chrysalis interjected, "but I usually work alone and have my pets come in to finish the job."

"It is common for villains to work alone." Dark Shadow said, "But during my imprisonment, I came to learn the concept of 'teamwork', and if I want the whole world under my iron hoof, I expect my, companions to work together.

Chrysalis is taken aback by his words. A villain like Dark Shadow, believing in the meaning of 'teamwork' and 'companion', much less say it like it's no big deal? This is unheard of, even for her.

"Now, go forth as I commanded." ordered Dark Shadow, "Do take your time coming up with a plan. I expect favorable results when you return."

"Yes, Lord Shadow." Chrysalis bowed to the dark pony.

"As you wish, my master." Azerrad did the same.

Chrysalis and Azerrad turned around and headed for the exit. "Changelings!" Chrysalis barked out, and the Changelings stood at attention. "Those of you on my right, stay here and get acquainted in your new home! Those of you on my left, follow me and Azerrad! Tonight, we will achieve victory over those ponies under their very noses!"

Chrysalis then took off flying for the exit as Azerrad and half of the Changelings follow her. Dark Shadow then looks at the Changelings that are left behind who look at him in fear. He smiles evilly, for another plan is brewing in his mind.

* * *

In a large open grassy area in the northern part of Equestria, Zenith the hooded stallion walks to the Crystal Empire. He comes across a large river, so he gallops and then makes a big jump over it. Zenith lands neatly on the other side. He looks up at the mountains ahead and sees a castle behind them.

"That must be the Crystal Empire." Zenith let out a sigh. "It would probably be night by the time I get more closer to it."

Zenith looks behind him to see the mountain where Canterlot resides. "I may not know what you've been doing all this time," he said, "but it will be sometime before we reunite and catch up on the old days..." He turned back around, "...Twilight."

Zenith then gallops towards the forest, to where he sensed the presence being born.

To where Equestria will soon witness an event beyond comprehension.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	6. Chapter 5

**Before you proceed to read this chapter, I am temporarily leaving this notice up here to explain something:**

 **This chapter is the first one to contain a song, and I wrote it through trial and error.**

 **The only problem is, I didn't know how to present it in this story without resorting it to be presented in script format for easy reading.**

 **So, if you have any tips on how presenting songs in stories work, drop a private message or type it in your review on this story.**

 **The title of the song will be revealed as you finish reading this chapter. That's all for now. Enjoy. :)**

* * *

In the library of the Castle of Friendship, Spike is nearly done dusting the top of last bookshelf near the door with a duster while Starlight Glimmer puts away the books into the bottom shelf with her magic.

"And...done!" Spike declared. He gets on the ladder and slides down to where Starlight just put the last book into the shelf. "Whew! A few hours more and I might've dropped down flat from exhaustion."

"Nice job, Spike. You sure outdid yourself today." Starlight said, "I take it you're still grumpy about having your emerald spinach lasagna delayed by more cleaning?"

"Nah. What you said caught me off guard, sure." replied Spike, "But I figured it would taste better after a hard day's work. Well, at least not all day."

Starlight chuckled a bit, "Well, thanks again for sticking with me for the chores."

"Glad I could be of service." said Spike.

Starlight then feels something cramped in her flank and grunts. "Speaking of service, I haven't moved much while putting the books away. My, um...bottom could use some relaxing-"

Starlight is startled a bit as Spike leaps up onto her back from her side. "Don't worry! I know how to handle that!" He claims boldly.

"Spike, what are-" Starlight gasps a little as Spike uses his claws to massage her flank. The pressure from Spike's claws being applied on her flank makes Starlight coo from the pleasure and lay down on the floor. Seeing that, Spike got off of Starlight and knelt at her side continuing the massage as she coos more.

And no, this is not going in the direction you think it might, so snap out of it.

"Oh, wow." Starlight moaned heavenly, "That feels so good. How'd you ever get this good at massaging?"

Spike then feels nervous when that question is asked and slowed his massage. "Well, just between us, when I was raised by Princess Celestia as Twilight studied under her, the princess had this cramp in her hoof one time. So, without asking, I massaged her hoof, and after that, the cramp was gone. Princess Celestia was relieved and impressed with what I did for her, so she gave me a book about massaging and other neat tricks. Since then, I would practice on my own these massaging techniques in case a pony needs it."

"Well, you're certainly doing a fine job," Starlight said as she coos from the massage given to her.

"You promise to keep it between us, right?" Spike asked nervously.

"Mmm, all right. I won't say a word of this." said Starlight.

Spike stops massaging and stands up. "How do you feel now?"

Starlight gets up and stretches herself a bit. She is amazed by what Spike's massage did. "Wow! The cramp in my flank is gone! You are one heck of a massager!"

"Aw, it's nothing." Spike said, blushing a bit, "Just doing what any friend would do."

Starlight smiles at Spike. Then, a knock echoes throughout the library, which alerts Spike and Starlight.

"Who could that be?" Starlight wondered.

"No idea," Spike replied, "Wasn't expecting any visitors."

"Wanna check who it is?" asked Starlight.

"What?" Spike is taken aback at Starlight's calm suggestion, "As in, walking all the way from here to the front door?"

"Who said anything about walking?" Starlight then lit up her horn and smirked, providing Spike a hint at what she will do, which he figures out.

"Oh!" Spike chuckled a bit, "Teleportation. That spell Twilight taught you last week."

"Hold my hoof," Starlight said, and Spike does so, "This might get random."

"Not as random as Pinkie's sudden entrance." Spike joked.

Starlight rolled her eyes at Spike's little joke and concentrates. She and Spike are surrounded by a turquoise aura, and in a flash, they disappear from the library and reappear in front of the large doors. Spike yelps at how close his nose is to the door and backs off a bit.

"Told you it could get random." said Starlight, smirking.

Spike chuckled nervously and turned the knob of one of the doors, and opened it. To his and Starlight's surprise is a Zebra wearing amber jewels.

"Zecora!" Spike chirped, "What a surprise!"

"Greetings, Spike the assisting one," Zecora said, "I hope my visit didn't leave you stunned."

"It's alright," reassured Starlight, "We weren't expecting visitors at this hour. What brings you here?"

"To research on something troubling," Zecora replied in a serious manner, "For in Everfree something was bubbling."

"Something happened in the Everfree Forest?" Spike asked.

"I heard a noise larger than parasprite raiders," Zecora explained, "And to my horror a cragadile pursued the Crusaders."

Spike and Starlight gasped. "The Cutie Mark Crusaders?!" Spike exclaimed.

"Are they alright?" Starlight asked worryingly.

"Safe and sound they truly are, "Zecora replied, "For unexpected help came from afar. A pony rescued the fillies from the cragadile, and he made it run away in a mile."

"As in, scaring it off?" Spike wondered, "Kinda unbelievable."

"And the Crusaders?" Starlight repeated her concern.

"At Sweet Apple Acres they are to serve their punishment," Zecora stated, "to do chores for this weekend while Big Macintosh is absent."

"Apple Bloom's and Applejack's brother?" asked Starlight.

"Oh, yeah! Big Macintosh went to Appleloosa to help Braeburn with some hay bales to set up for a new competition held there." Spike confirmed.

"That's a relief. About that research," Starlight said, getting the conversation back on topic, "I'm sure the library in this castle may have what you may look for. Please, allow us to walk you there."

"Thank you, dearest friend of Twilight," Zecora bowed to Starlight, "your thoughtfulness shines very bright."

Starlight blushes at the comment. "Yeah, it sure does."

Starlight makes way for Zecora to walk through the door which she does. As all three are inside, Spike closes the door behind him and catches up with Starlight and Zecora. "By the way, did you get that pony's name, the one who saved the Crusaders?" Spike asked.

"I'm afraid he didn't mention it to us," said Zecora, uneasily, "for he quickly left without a fuss."

"Guess he was in a hurry to get somewhere." Starlight guessed as they walk down the hall to the library, hoping to research what occurred in the Everfree Forest.

* * *

Time goes by, and the sun is almost nearing the western horizon. Thus, everypony at the Crystal Empire is getting ready to go to bed, while Princess Celestia prepares to lower the sun. Inside the Crystal Castle in one of the halls, the Mane Six, Princess Luna, Princess Cadance and Discord walk down one.

"Whew! This was one interestin' day we had." Applejack said.

"Yes, getting to see the little baby filly is outstanding," Rarity agreed while glancing at her hoof, "But seeing that she is an Alicorn is simply breathtaking!"

"More like, absopositivilutely great!" Pinkie bounced happily, "I bet if we wait a few more days for Flurry Heart to get used to her surroundings, I'll invite everypony in this empire to a 'few days after Flurry Heart's birth' party!"

"Will I be on the invitation list?" Discord asked.

"Of course you are, silly!" Pinkie replied, "Everypony I know and is my friend is always invited to future parties I plan to throw!"

Fluttershy hovers beside Discord's paw. "Are you sure you want to be at that party with your still hurt paw, Discord?" She asked in concern.

"I'm sure it will wear off after a good night's sleep," assured Discord, inspecting his numb paw, "That is, if my first ever best and kind friend will be at the party." He smiles softly at Fluttershy who is touched by his thoughtfulness and nuzzles his cheek to his surprise, but he settles down from the gesture.

"So, Cadance," Rainbow Dash hovered beside Cadance, "how's it feel to have a baby Alicorn as your awesome little filly?"

"Well, at first it was overwhelming to have Flurry Heart behave," Cadance said, "but now, I am very happy to have her in me and Shining Armor's lives."

"I bet everypony is happy for you," Twilight chimed in, "I hope it wasn't any trouble for us staying longer than anticipated."

"It was no trouble at all, Twilight." said Luna, "It was a very long day for everypony to get to know Flurry Heart, thus you all are welcome to spend the night here." Luna then takes to the air, "Now if you will excuse me, I must go and raise the moon." She then flew off through an open window to join her sister.

The Mane Six and Cadance come across three doors on each side of the hall. "You all can sleep in these rooms." said Cadance, "If you need anything, the guards will see to your needs."

"Why, thank you ever so kindly," Rarity chirped, going to one of the doors. But she stopped short and gasped, "Oh my! Spikey-wikey!" Rarity clutched Twilight's cheeks tightly with her hooves to Twilight's surprise. "We spent all day baby showering Flurry Heart that we forgot to tell Spike we are staying overnight!" She lets go of Twilight's cheeks and starts to pace, "Oh, of all the worst things that could happen, this is the, worst, possible, THING!" Rarity's face changes expressions of fear while she says the four last words.

Twilight put her hoof on Rarity's shoulder which makes her snap out of it and turn to the lilac Alicorn. "Don't worry, Rarity," Twilight assures Rarity, "Since I'm an Alicorn and I learned the spell of sending letters to Spike like how Princess Celestia did, I sent one to him this afternoon explaining that we are spending the night here and for him and Starlight to keep the Castle of Friendship neat and tidy."

Rarity breathes a sigh of relief. "Oh, that's reassuring. I'm sorry about that ridiculous outburst."

"That's okay," assured Cadance, "I'm sure he will understand our reasons." She turns around and looks back at the Mane Six and Discord, "You make yourselves comfortable while I check on Shining Armor and Flurry Heart. Good night."

The Mane Six and Discord reply good night in unison to Cadance as she walks back the other way in the hall.

"Well, I'd best be off, too." Discord bowed to the Mane Six and turned to Fluttershy, "And don't you worry none, Fluttershy. I'll see to it you're animal friends are well fed and comfortable, even your bunny pet."

"Aw, thank you, Discord." Fluttershy said quietly.

"Pardon?" Discord asked.

Fluttershy repeated her sentence more quietly while hiding behind her mane.

"Didn't quite hear you." Discord put his claw to his ear.

"SHE SAID 'THANK YOU!'" Pinkie shouted to Discord's ear. He is startled from that sudden outburst from Pinkie but regains his composure.

"Sorry," Pinkie apologizes, "couldn't help it."

"Yes, I'm sure you didn't." Discord squeaks his claw in his ear, "Well, I'll be on my-" Discord stops turning around and gasps. He turns back to the Mane Six. "Dear me! I almost forgot! I think I'd like to share something with all of you before I take my leave."

"And what, pray tell, would that be?" Rarity asked.

"It involves today's events of seeing the baby Alicorn," Discord explained, "Seeing the splendid offspring of Princess Cadance and Twilight's brother brought forth a thought, that the baby represents, you probably know this by now, the love between her parents."

The Mane Six seem confused at Discord's explanation and look at each other. "What are you getting at, Discord?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"What I am saying, is that seeing a baby foal might make you think about wanting to settle down with your special somepony and have a baby foal of your own." Discord said, "It's just a personal opinion, and I may not be an expert on love, that's Princess Cadance's area of expertise after all, but I figured I should bring it up before I get a headache from keeping that thought sealed up."

A few seconds of silence fills the hall as the Mane Six ponder on Discord's opinion, except Dash who's face is blank on the matter, until Rarity clears her throat. "Well, I sort of understand your opinion since I been down that road," she reasoned, "Though, it would be too sudden to simply think about living in that sort of lifestyle."

"To settle down and love, or not to settle down and love. That is the question." Discord opined in his dramatic voice, then switched to his normal one, "Regardless, it's your choice. You can go on with your 'slice of life' schedule and, as they say, hang out with your friends," He turns around and looks back at the Mane Six, "or you can wait for fate to present to you an unexpected turn of events that may or may not have you consider finding your special somepony." Discord chuckles to himself. "T, T, F, N. Ta-ta for now!"

Discord snaps his lion fingers, and he disappears in a flash of light.

"Hey! That's what I said to the ponies at the end of last week's party!" Pinkie spat.

"Did you make heads or tails of Discord's explanations?" Dash asked.

"Ah guess Ah did," Applejack confirmed in an uneasy tone, "Did you?"

"Nope. He totally lost me on that one." Dash said, perplexed.

As the girls talk, Twilight seems to be in deep thought over what Discord had said. Continue to spread the meaning of friendship with her friends, or settle down with a special somepony and raise a baby foal to carry on her mission? These thoughts ran through her mind, though she seems to lean more to doing what she is meant to do as the Princess of Friendship.

"Twilight?" Fluttershy said, "What's wrong?"

Twilight snaps out of her thoughts. "Huh? Uh, nothing. Nothing's wrong at all. It was a pretty interesting, um, lecture Discord gave us." She walks to one of the bedroom doors. "But why don't we save this for another time? Tomorrow's a new day, and we don't want some troubling opinions getting in our way, right?"

"Right as rain!" Pinkie agreed, bouncing to a door. "There are so many things I wanna plan a party to throw for Flurry Heart!"

"And I intend to brainstorm various little dress samples for her," Rarity said, lighting her horn on the doorknob and opening it. "Good night, girls."

"Good night, y'all." Applejack replied.

"What she said." Rainbow Dash said.

"Good night, everypony." said Twilight.

After an exchange of good nights, the Mane Six went into their respective bedrooms and closed the doors behind them.

* * *

A few hours pass as the night goes on, and it seems that the Mane Six are unable to get to sleep. Applejack sits on her bed in thought, Pinkie lies across her bed with her head hanging upside down at the edge with a half suspicious half puzzled look, Rarity sees her worried face's reflection on her hoof, Fluttershy is under the blanket feeling a little scared, and Rainbow Dash is frustrated no matter what position she tries to sleep in. But the pony who is most in thought is Twilight Sparkle.

As her head lies on the pillow, Twilight is thinking deeply on what Discord said and how it would affect her duty as the Princess of Friendship. "Strange," she said, "I can't help but wonder. Settling down with your special somepony and being happy with them while living your life to the fullest? I know Cadance and Shining Armor did that and are doing okay, but...would there come a time somepony expects me to do the same?"

Twilight gets up and scratches the back of her head with her hoof. "Sure my friends might do that, but I'm not sure I can. I mean, I'm an Alicorn. I may not be immortal like the royal sisters, which I hope so, but I might outlive my friends by a few years, a few more extra since I was a Unicorn. If I do settle down with a stallion I really 'like' like, there can be complications to what that life can lead towards."

She gets off her bed and looks to the window, where the moon shines its rays over the Crystal Empire and the snowy mountains beyond. "Also, I feel...that I should find somepony. Somepony who understands me better than me and my friends do, which chances are fifty-fifty, and can make me the happiest mare in Equestria." Twilight walks to the window and opens it, letting the cool air in as she looks out to the horizon. "And, even if we do bear a baby foal, would we be able to raise it and prepare it to take up my mission of spreading friendship everywhere?"

Twilight sighs in sadness. "What is wrong with me? Somehow I feel...lonely, despite having my friends as company. Is this what...longing for love feels like?"

At that moment, piano music starts to play from nowhere as Twilight looks up to the moon and starts to sing:

 _In all my years of living_

 _Never had I felt this feeling_

 _Throughout the mistakes and misgivings_

 _Not once did my heart went reeling_

 _Love can be a complicated thing_

 _It simply can't be learned from a book_

 _But the first phase of having that feeling_

 _Is when your heart feels snared by a hook_

In another bedroom, Applejack takes of her hat and looks at it in mild confusion and sadness. She then sings in her adorable accent:

 _You'll see many couples feeling happy_

 _That you want to give them your blessing_

 _But if somepony wants what is best for you_

 _Would it include finding love and progressing?_

Fluttershy gets out from underneath her blanket and hovers around her bedroom as she sings ever so beautifully:

 _At first you might believe it is scary_

 _To not know how to approach it_

 _Yet you seem to wonder curiously_

 _Why this feeling won't let you quit_

 _Oh_

Twilight, Applejack and Fluttershy then sing in unison:

 _ **How strange it is to feel this way**_

 _ **To soar through the sky like a dove**_

 _ **How will I know it is real or not**_

[Applejack]

 _Among the push and shove_

[Fluttershy]

 _It's not to be proud of_

[Twilight]

 _It's so much to think of_

[Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy]

 _ **Yet it is very overwhelming**_

 _ **To have the urge to love**_

In Pinkie's bedroom, she rolls over on the bed onto her barrel and looks to the window in concern and doubt. Pinkie starts singing in her cute high voice but quietly:

 _Sometimes you feel down in the dumps_

 _But not so much as right now_

 _How weird it is to get the idea of finding happiness_

 _By seeing somepony that makes you say wow_

Rarity gets off her bed and walks beside the window as the moon's rays make her coat and mane glisten beautifully while she looks down in confusion and loneliness. She sings in an opera style manner as she does this:

 _Everypony has different views on love_

 _Which lead to various kinds of emotions_

 _But how would I know if I'm truly in love_

 _With somepony that shows grand devotion?_

 _Oh_

Twilight, Pinkie and Rarity then sing the chorus, while the white unicorn repeats the last few words of each line:

 ** _How strange it is to feel this way_** ([Rarity] _Feel this way_ )

 ** _To soar through the sky like a dove_** ([Rarity] _Like a dove_ )

 ** _How will I know it is real or not_**

[Pinkie]

 _Among the push and shove_

[Rarity]

 _It's not to be proud of_

[Twilight]

 _It's so much to think of_

[Twilight, Pinkie, and Rarity]

 ** _Yet it is very overwhelming_** ([Rarity] _Overwhelming_ )

 ** _To have the urge to love_**

In her room, Rainbow Dash lets out a frustrated grunt after many attempts of getting to sleep. Eventually she gets out of bed and paces back and forth sternly wondering what's wrong with her while singing in her most awesome sing song voice:

 _Why is it that among the things to think of_

 _Looking for a special somepony ends up on top?_

 _Not everypony has the time for that mushy stuff_

 _And that includes me the cream of the crop_

 _Doing awesome things for a couple_

 _I guess I'm okay with that_

 _But to have thoughts like finding love_

 _What is up with that?!_

Dash grunts again and hits her face into the blanket. Suddenly, she looks up wide eyed and gasped, like she realizes something she never thought of before, and resumes singing in a quiet manner:

 _But...now that I pause to think about it_

 _I'm usually not as happy as I used to be_

 _If being with your special somepony makes it so_

 _Does that mean I'll feel so much more than free?_

Twilight places her hoof on her chest and feels her heart beating a little more than normal and looks back at the moon as the stars twinkle in her sad eyes, resuming her singing:

 _How strange it is to feel this way_

 _It is so much to ponder on_

 _How will I know it is real or not_

 _Before that feeling is gone?_

 _Oh_

Then the Mane Six all sing the chorus together:

 _ **How strange it is to feel this way**_ ([Applejack] _Feel this way_ )

 ** _To soar through the sky like a dove_** ([Fluttershy] _Like a dove_ )

 _ **How will I know it is real or not**_ ([Pinkie] _Real or not_ )

 _ **Among the push and shove**_

 _ **It's not to be proud of**_

 _ **Its so much to think of**_

 _ **Oh**_

 ** _How strange it is to feel this way_** ([Twilight] _Feel this way_ )

 ** _To soar through the sky like a dove_** ([Rarity] _Like a dove_ )

 ** _How will I know it is real or not_** ([Rainbow Dash] _Real or not_ )

 ** _Among the push and shove_**

 ** _It's not to be proud of_**

 ** _Its so much to think of_**

 ** _Yet it is very overwhelming_** ([Twilight] _Overwhelming_ )

 _ **To have the urge to love**_

Eventually, five of the Mane Six sighed to themselves and walked back to their beds and tuck themselves in for the night. Twilight stands there at the window for a few seconds and sighed. She then closes the window and walks to her bed. Twilight tucks herself in and looks back at the window while singing one last time:

 _If fate would have its way_

 _To show a sign from above_

 _Will I know for certain_

 _To have the urge to love_

Twilight then yawns and closes her eyes, drifting off to sleep, while her face shows sadness and concern from her deep thoughts on the matter. Little did she notice, that outside the window, Princess Luna hovers near it, having overheard what Twilight was talking about. Luna's face is filled with concern and sympathy, and she then flies down to the castle grounds.

Underneath the castle, Princess Celestia looks at the Crystal Heart, the magical object that is powered by the love and light of the Crystal Ponies. Luna lands behind her, and Celestia turns her head to see her sister's concerned face. "Luna? What is troubling you?"

"Well, it is not about that presence you and I sensed," Luna said in worry, "It is about Twilight."

Raising her eyebrow in question, Celestia fully turns around to Luna. "What is it about her?"

"It seems she and her friends were talking to themselves about something that troubles them so," Luna explained, "And they sound, lonely."

"Lonely?" Celestia asked.

"Yes." replied Luna, "Even though they have each other as friends, they are lonely, in the sense of wanting something, or somepony to be by their side. I do not know when it happened, but they seem to be...longing for love."

Celestia's eyes widened in realization which Luna notices. "Sister?" Luna asked in concern, "What is it?"

"I...I remember something from long ago." Celestia replied anxiously, "But I will tell you and Twilight about that another time, when I am sure what the future holds for us."

"Alright," said Luna, "but don't take too long. It will be hard to explain something when you hold a secret back for so long."

Luna then takes flight to the night sky, but before she can fly off, "Wait!" Celestia called, "One more thing."

Luna turns around to Celestia, "Yes, sister?"

"You can discuss Twilight and her friends' troubles with Cadance," Celestia said, "but, I implore you that she must keep it between the three of us until we agree otherwise."

"Very well," Luna agreed, "Good night, sister."

"Good night, Luna." said Celestia.

Luna flies off to the night sky. Celestia looks down in deep thought. "I never thought this time would come in so long," she says quietly, "that this is the sign of 'his' return," Celestia looks up to the night sky in concern, "...and the third one at that."

* * *

At the bottom of the crystal like mountains, behind a few rocks, two figures raise their heads up from behind them. Queen Chrysalis and Azerrad look at the Crystal Empire which is far from where they are, and a large group of Changelings are behind the two figures.

Azerrad chuckles evilly to himself. "Oh ho ho ho, horseapples," he said, "Those ponies are going to get the unexpected surprise of their pathetic lives, right, Chrysalis?"

The Changeling Queen looked at Azerrad sternly, for he didn't address her as Queen, but she smiled. "Indeed they will," she replied, "for tonight, this will be the most dreadful night to remember for them." Chrysalis laughs evilly as most of the Changelings behind her did the same. Azerrad couldn't help but smile smugly at how much Chrysalis is getting into this, and also, as he looked at the castle of the Crystal Empire, a certain thought came across his mind, one that he longs to accomplish for so long.

The one single thought that is summarized with one single word.

Revenge.

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

 **The title of the song seen here is: "The Urge to Love", written by yours truely.**

 **S. L. F. N.**

 **So long for now! :)**


	7. Chapter 6

Before the night fell on Equestria, in the afternoon at Sweet Apple Acres in Ponyville, three certain fillies were working there to be forgiven for their bad action at the Everfree Forest. Zecora the Zebra explained to an elderly mare pony who lived there that the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle attempted to go through the Everfree Forest to her hut by themselves. Zecora didn't mention the pony that saved the Crusaders from the cragadile much to the fillies' relief. So the old mare was thankful for the Zebra's vigilance and decided that the Crusaders must do some chores at Sweet Apple Acres for this weekend as their punishment for going alone to the forest.

As Zecora already left for the Castle of Friendship, the Crusaders were bringing baskets of apples to an area near the left side of the red farm house. As Apple Bloom put the last basket of apples down, she, Scootaloo and Sweetie breathed a big sigh. Then, an old mare exited the house to see the fillies' progress. She has light orange eyes, a light gray mane and tail, a light lime green coat, wears an apple themed and a cutie mark of an apple pie. She looks at the baskets carefully and back at the Crusaders with a stern face.

"G-Granny Smith," Apple Bloom breathed between breaths, "All fifteen, baskets are, filled with apples...whew! A-as ya told us, to do."

"Can we take a breather now?" Scootaloo asked, "My back feels cramped."

For a few seconds Granny Smith thought about it. The Crusaders looked uneasily at her, wondering if their deserved break will fall on deaf ears. "Alright, youngins'," Granny Smith said, "ya'll did fine and dandy with these baskets there. A five minute break is all ya get fer now. After that, ya'll are to prepare the pigs' pre appetizers and supper. And I better not see any slakin' off from any of ya, ya got it?"

"We got it." the Crusaders sighed in shame.

Smiling yet keeping a stern face, Granny Smith went back into the farm house. The three fillies then sat down. "Well, that was a major bummer." Scootaloo moaned.

"Well, Ah brought up the idea of doin' big things big ponies do since we got our cutie marks," Apple Bloom reasoned, "and again, Ah'm sorry for draggin' ya'll into it."

"Well, we all went with it," Sweetie said, "and what matters is that we're safe and sound."

"At least we didn't get spanked." said Scootaloo.

"Though Ah wonder what Zecora wanted to do at Princess Twilight's Castle?" Apple Bloom wondered.

"Probably to research something that made the cragadile attack us." Sweetie guessed.

Apple Bloom smirked a bit, "The cragadile that the 'handsome' pony saved us from?"

Sweetie's cheeks flushed deep pink as Apple Bloom mentioned the pony. "Quiet!" she hissed quickly, "You promised to keep him a secret!"

"We promised to keep his name a secret, remember?" asked Scootaloo.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Sweetie embarrassingly scratched her neck with her hoof while still blushing, "Anyway, I wonder if we will see him again."

"Do ya want ta see him again?" Apple Bloom cheekily raised her eyebrow which causes Sweetie to blush again at the question.

"No! Not like that!" Sweetie spat out, "More like, will he come to Ponyville someday so that we can get to know him?"

"Perhaps he will." Apple Bloom opined, "And if he does, we can try ta be friends with him."

"If we can get through these aching chores in three days." Scootaloo chimed in. The Crusaders chuckled, while Sweetie thinks about the pony that saved her and her friends.

* * *

Later, as the sun lowers a bit to the western horizon, the large doors of the Castle of Friendship opens, and Zecora walks out between them with a sad face. Starlight Glimmer and Spike follow her just up to the doors with concerned faces.

"Nothing found of the events that happened, in the Everfree Forest to find out what tapped in," Zecora said, "the cragadile to make a sudden action on the fillies, such a troubling thought brings to mind an ill ease."

"I'm sorry that we couldn't find the information you're looking for." said Starlight, "Maybe we can try again when Twilight and her friends come back tomorrow as her letter stated."

"And maybe we can look in the library where Twilight and I used to stay at Canterlot." Spike suggested.

"But those high class ponies know not of me," Zecora demurred, looking at Starlight and Spike, "I doubt I'll be treated to their cup of tea."

"Don't worry, Twilight will go with you if she can," Spike reassured Zecora, "and she has another group of friends there, so I'm sure you'll be on good terms with them."

Zecora is a bit confused, and Spike nods his head in more reassurance, and Starlight does the same, which makes Zecora smile. "Thank you humbly for the help," she said, "without it I would unsurely yelp. I must now be going back to my hut, before my ingredients' doors are shut."

"If we find anything, we'll let you know." Starlight said, "Take care."

"See ya later." said Spike.

Zecora nodded and trotted off for the Everfree Forest. Starlight and Spike then closed the doors in front of them and walked down the hall. "Now we have to put those books Zecora requested back up to their appropriate shelves." Starlight spoke a bit disdainfully.

"Look on the bright side," Spike chirped up, "It gives us something instead of nothing to do."

Starlight chuckles a bit, then, a sudden vision flashes in her mind again. As she gasps, Starlight can see for a few seconds a pony hidden in the shadows which seems more familiar to her.

"Starlight?" Spike noticed Starlight being in a trance, "Starlight!"

"Huh?" Starlight snaps out of the vision.

"Is something wrong?" Spike asked, worried.

"Um, maybe," Starlight said, a bit perplexed, "but I don't know exactly."

"Well, okay." Spike said, a little confused, "Maybe this busy day we had is taking a toll on us. A good night's sleep will get us up and bright."

"Yes, that'll be good." Starlight agreed and they resumed walking down the hall. Starlight is now more confused by what she saw for the second time, only the vision was longer and the shadowed pony showed more details, most that appear recognizable to her. But it leaves her with more questions than she thought, so Starlight put that aside for now and intends to ask Twilight about this tomorrow.

* * *

The stars twinkle in the night sky and the moon shines its rays over the Crystal Empire as everypony is sound asleep, except for most of the royal guards patrolling the streets and the castle. One guard in particular is inside the bedroom where Flurry Heart sleeps in her baby bed. He stands at attention near the door holding a spear between his wrist.

He is a Pegasus who has vivid blue eyes, a brilliant gamboge coat, a mane and tail of two tones of sapphire, and a cutie mark of a two-toned blue shield behind a yellow lightning bolt. Like various royal guards, he wears yellow gold armor covering his body accompanied by shoes on his hooves and a helmet with hair matching his mane. He looks to the clock on the wall to his left, showing it is an hour and a half past midnight. The gamboge Pegasus then thinks back to what his commander, Shining Armor, told him to do...

(Flashback, some time ago)

In the bedroom, Shining Armor stands near the baby bed looking at Flurry Heart sleeping. Three light knocks is heard at the door, drawing the attention of Shining Armor. "Come in." he said in a tone to not wake the baby.

Slowly, the gamboge Pegasus walks in and stands at attention. "Flash Sentry reporting for duty." he says quietly, "You requested my presence, sir?"

"Yes, Flash," Shining Armor replied, "I asked for you because Princess Cadance trusts you the most out of the royal guards stationed here, so I see no downside of me doing so." he looks to his sleeping daughter and continued, "You are to stand guard inside this bedroom and watch over Flurry Heart. I'll have another guard standing watch outside." Shining Armor looks back at Flash Sentry, "I am counting on you to make sure that nothing in particular happens to the baby Alicorn, either suddenly or mysteriously. Understand?"

"Perfectly, sir." Flash saluted softly, "I won't let you down, sir."

For a second, Shining Armor raises his eyebrow, than he chuckles a bit which Flash notices. "What is it, sir?" the gamboge Pegasus asked.

"Personally," Shining Armor started after calming down a bit, "out of all the serious guards I've known, you are a unique one. Don't get me wrong, but I've seen how much of a gentlecolt you are, like being quiet around babies and treating mares with respect, especially my sister."

"Princess Twilight?" Flash said a bit wide eyed.

"Yes. I've heard from Princess Cadance how Twilight bumped into you and how kind you've been to her." Shining Armor put his hoof on Flash's shoulder smiling making the Pegasus feel uneasy, "Maybe I could let you have a chance with my sister, if you are willing to earn my trust in that property."

Flash sees the stern yet smiling face of Shining Armor, showing how serious yet playful he is. The only response Flash lets out is a sad sigh. "With all due respect, sir," he said, "I...I don't see Princess Twilight as the special somepony I am looking for."

Shining Armor is surprised, "What? What makes you say that?" he asked.

"Because I have eyes for somepony else." Flash looks down, feeling down himself, "At least, I believed I did."

Shining Armor feels concerned that this side of Flash Sentry was not revealed to anypony, and also feels guilty for what he did on him, "Hey, I'm sorry about assuming your feelings for my sister." he said, "If you already have a mare in mind, then I have no qualms with it. You don't have to explain what happened between you and her."

"No, it is best that somepony knows." Flash replied, "In fact, I've never told anypony about it." He looks to Shining Armor with a sad face, "With your permission, I'd like to tell you what happened to me long ago. But, would you...and Princess Cadance, promise to keep it a secret?"

"Colt scout's honour," Shining Armor raised his hoof in a mock saluting manner after a slight pause, "Continue."

Flash then took a breath to ease himself, and begins to tell Shining Armor what happened, "When I was a colt, I had a rough time at Cloudsdale school," Flash explained, "Because of my social awkwardness and clumsiness, the other colts and fillies made fun of me for it. It was in those days that I felt so sad and depressed, until one day I couldn't take it anymore."

Shining Armor's eyes widened a bit as Flash continued, "To get away from it all, I took the risk of flying down to the ground. I didn't care if I was inexperienced, I just wanted to leave that place and not come back." Flash took another breath, "I was aiming for the trees, thinking that they would soften my landing. I was wrong. I bumped into the branches hard and fell flat on my face to the ground."

"I take it you survived?" Shining Armor asked.

"Yes, sir." replied Flash, "But I had bruises on my legs and barrel, and my wings were crippled. I thought it would be the end of me, that it was the price to escape my horrible past...until I heard a voice, and I saw him."

Shining Armor stayed silent though confused at where the story was going as Flash looked up with a fake smile while he spoke, "It was a Unicorn colt, who has the same coloured coat like I do, a somewhat dark orange mane and tail, eyes as blue as the night sky, and a cutie mark of an odd sun. But what was unusual about him is that he has a white spot on his nose and white coatings around his legs, though I discarded that question as I felt myself blacking out from my headache.

"When I came to, I was in a hospital bed, and me and my wings were bandaged up. I noticed the colt sitting beside me and he was relieved that I am awake. The doctor came in and saw me awake as well. He explained that the colt brought me here and the other nurses took care of me. He said that my body will be fine after a night's rest, but it will be three days before my wings are healed, so as long as I don't move them I'll be fine. The colt apologized to make it short, but he said he is late to meet with his mentor, one of the Princess's Royal Mages of Canterlot, but he stated that someday we'll meet again, and he left. It occurred to me that we didn't exchange names, and also that he treated me like a friend, something that nopony my age ever did."

"What does all that have to do with that special somepony of yours?" Shining Armor interrupted, a little confused.

"Forgive me sir, I'm just getting to that." Flash recovered from the startled interruption and continued, "As I rested in the hospital, I thought of what that colt said about his Royal Mage mentor. An Unicorn pony that young wanting to be a royal mage? I thought that was crazy, yet he seemed pretty excited about it. That made me wonder. Will I be able to find my destiny no matter how my own self gets in the way? It was then I realized. Life is too precious to throw away and ignore the ups and downs of it all, and nopony else should think of doing that. So, I decided that I will become a royal guard, and find a special somepony to protect and love.

"Once I was healed and left the hospital, I saw that I am in Canterlot, the capital of Equestria and the superior high class city of them all. I got a few uncanny looks from the Unicorns, and I didn't know how to handle it. But then trumpets played out, and down the street came Princess Celestia and a filly accompanying her. The other Unicorns bowed as the sun goddess walked by, and since I learned of her at school, I bowed as well. But there was something about the filly that caught my eye and made my heart beat harder than ever.

"The Unicorn filly had a gold coat, a red and yellow mane and tail, and a cutie mark of a shimmering sun. But what really caught my eye was her eyes. They are as blue as the sky. I've never seen such beautiful eyes. I had many thoughts of how to greet her and some doubts if she will greet me back.

"But something suddenly snapped me out of my thoughts.

"An explosion erupted from one of the towers, and large chunks of stone and debris were falling down. While the other Unicorns panicked and took cover, the filly beside the Princess lit up her horn and held the stones in the air with her magic. But I noticed that a whole part of the tower roof was falling down towards the filly and the Princess. I didn't want to see the filly hurt as much as the sun goddess, and I didn't care if I was going to throw my life away. If it means to ensure that everypony is safe, so be it.

"I took flight and flew towards the roof. I got below it and pushed it as hard as I could, but the speed at which it was falling made my efforts fruitless. But as I saw the shocked Princess and the frightened filly, which made her cancel out her focus and made the stones fall again, I knew I had to save them no matter what. I began to flap my wings as hard as they could carry me, and slowly the roof slowed down its falling, but I didn't have long, so I tilted it and pushed the roof towards the falling stones and caught them with it. Once I caught all of them, I roughly landed the roof on the street pretty far up front from the Princess and the filly. As I breathed like I flew a flying course, I saw the many shocked faces of the Unicorns and even the filly and the Princess. But I was glad that everypony was okay, even the filly.

"Then something happened.

"My body suddenly started to feel strange, and before I knew it I was lifted up by this magical source surrounding me, and in a flash of bright light-"

"Let me guess," Shining Armor interrupted again, "you got your cutie mark?"

Flash chuckled a bit, "That's right, sir. I did." He then went on with his story, "At first I was confused at what happened to me, but when I saw both of my flanks, they had a mark of a blue shield with a lightning bolt in front of them. I was speechless. Then Princess Celestia approached me and asked for my name, which I gave, and she thanked me for saving everypony present of the accident. The Princess then asked if I would like to join the royal guards. Such a request from the sun goddess and a golden opportunity being presented to me because I earned it made me choke up a bit, so I gratefully accepted. I then followed the Princess and the filly while the Unicorns cheered for my efforts, most of them anyway.

"As we walked I noticed that the filly was looking at me, and as she noticed the same thing she looked away quickly and turned a bit red. I could see that she had conflicting feelings about me and her interests, so I intended to give her time to come to terms with them."

Flash paused a bit and sniffed, which Shining Armor notices. The gamboge Pegasus then continued, "As time went by I was training with the other Pegasi to be a royal guard, and my thoughts of the Unicorn mare who was the filly I saved never left my head. So I used those thoughts as inspiration to continue my training, believing that I was doing it for her. But..."

Shining Armor saw a tear roll down Flash's cheek. "But what?" he asked softly.

"But I was devastated to hear that the mare betrayed Princess Celestia and disappeared to who knows where." Flash sadly wiped the tear with his hoof, "It was so obvious that she had the superiority complex the high class ponies do, and I was a foal to not realize it. But...despite all that, I still believe that everypony deserves another chance, so I believed that someday she will come back, that whatever is troubling her she must confront it on her own."

Flash then sighed and looked at Shining Armor, "And now that I'm a royal guard, I do my duties as one while thinking of that mare all the time, and I still do. She is the only reason I fulfilled my destiny, and she is the only mare I consider my very special somepony...if she comes back that is."

As Flash finished his story, he hangs his head low with a sad look. Shining Armor feels sympathetic for the Pegasus and is even in awe of how much Flash thought his feelings and ideals out. "Gee," the Unicorn commander said, "I had no idea you were the Pegasus colt who saved Princess Celestia that day, and even how deep your feelings for that other unicorn mare are. Though if you think she will come back, then I'm sure she will."

Flash looks up again at Shining Armor who smiled at him, "And don't worry. Your secret's safe with me. But let me warn you," he leans in close to Flash, "mares always find out the truth," he whispered while patting Flash's shoulder, "always."

Shining Armor then walks to the door and exits the bedroom, leaving Flash a bit perplexed at what his commander told him.

(End of flashback)

Flash ended up thinking about how he told Shining Armor his troubling past and his loss of his special somepony. He then lays his spear on the wall beside him, takes off his helmet and takes a picture out from inside the back part. Flash looks solemnly at the picture and sighs. In the shadows it is not watchable, but to Flash it is somepony he misses a lot.

THUMP!

A sudden thump is heard outside the window, making Flash gasp and fumble a bit with the picture and helmet. After getting his grasp on the picture and helmet, he sees that Flurry Heart is asleep. Flash sighs in relief and puts the picture back into the helmet. He sets it down to the floor and grabs his spear. The gamboge Pegasus cautiously walks to the window and sticks his head out with his spear beside him. Flash looks around, left, right, above. So far it seems like there is nothing, probably to Flash that some bird crashed into the outside wall of the castle.

But when he looked down, his eyes widen, for his guess was proven wrong.

Before he can shout, Flash's mouth is quickly covered by a hoof, and he is pulled out from the window forcefully yet silently. Soon, the room fell silent. All that was left was the helmet of the disappeared stallion guard with a picture inside it, and a baby Alicorn sleeping in the baby bed. But then, Flurry Heart's face starts to turn to fear, for it seems to be having a nightmare, and a shadow looms over her.

From the window is the head of a unicorn hidden in his own shadow, where his right eye glows red, and his left eye is half open, showing a purple aura emitting from it. He chuckles quietly and evilly to himself as he sets his eyes on the baby Alicorn.

For something dreadful is going to happen. How? Nopony is sure. What is certain is that it will be very dreadful.

And tragic.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	8. Chapter 7

At the edge of Everfree Forest just outside of Ponyville, there is a small woodland cottage that has various birdhouses and small animal holes nearby it. It is where Fluttershy and her many animal friends live, including her pet bunny named Angel. And sometimes Discord pays Fluttershy a visit since they both became close friends after those times the spirit of chaos was the adversary of the Mane Six. But since Discord learned the meaning of friendship and sees it as an important thing between him and Fluttershy, he set aside his chaotic doings for good and is on good terms with everypony.

While the night went on, upstairs in Fluttershy's room of the cottage, Discord was preparing Angel's little bed as the white bunny kept a watchful and stern look at his work. Discord moaned a bit as he finished and looked at Angel, "Is this better, now?"

The bunny leapt onto his bed and checked it carefully, while Discord had a worried frown on his face. Eventually, Angel looked up to Discord, and gave a nod while closing his eyes.

"Finally!" Discord wiped his forehead with his paw, and he winced due to the lingering pain from earlier today. "Ow!" he yelped, keeping his paw still for a moment, "I guess the baby Alicorn's strength is more grand than I thought."

Angel's ears perked up and looked up at Discord with a surprised expression. Discord notices this. "What? Didn't Fluttershy tell you?" he asked. The bunny shook his head. "Guess I'll tell you then," the spirit of chaos disappeared in a flash then reappeared on a bit smaller scale leaning onto the edge of Angel's bed, "Shining Armor and Princess Cadance had a baby named Flurry Heart, and what is shocking is that the little filly is an Alicorn! Can you imagine? A baby Alicorn being born after so many centuries in Equestria!" Discord chuckles as Angel is perplexed at what he heard.

"Anyway," Discord goes back to his original size, "I'm sure Fluttershy will go into more detail on that once she comes back. In the meantime," Discord snaps his fingers and two carrots appeared in his claw, "how about a toast?"

Angel sees Discord being in a happy mood, which is unusual to the bunny, but he shrugged and takes a carrot from him. "To the first born baby Alicorn," Discord announces while tapping his carrot with Angel's, "Equestria and beyond ever witnessed!" Angel smirked at Discord's usual dramatics, and they are about to take a bite of their carrots...

ZING!

When a sudden and terrible feeling runs down their spines making them look shocked. Soon, the animals inside and outside the cottage are scurrying and crying about in panic, even Angel hid inside is bed feeling scared. Discord attempts to calm down the animals but to no avail. "What in Equestria was that?" he said aloud to himself, "It's like something bad, something terrifying, which is unusual for me to feel, and something more evil than my old self is making its move!"

Discord floats outside to see the animals around the cottage running about and trying to take shelter while some came out of the Everfree Forest and ran from it like a forest fire erupted. "Oh, I do hope Fluttershy and her friends are alright." Discord said worryingly.

* * *

Back in the baby bedroom of the Crystal Castle, Flurry Heart the baby Alicorn struggles in her sleep while a black coated Unicorn comes in through the window. He steps close to the baby bed and stares down with a grin on his face on the baby. Then, Flurry Heart attempts to cry, but only lets out short breathes, like she was coming down with a fever. The Unicorn chuckles evilly.

"Try to cry all you want, baby Alicorn." he says, "You are under Azerrad's spell now. Even though you are an Alicorn, your mind is so fragile it is so easy to break down nice and slow."

Throughout the areas of the castle, insect like ponies silently take down the royal guards while Azerrad talks, "While the Changelings are busy keeping the guards at bay, some of them including their Queen, Chrysalis, will capture Twilight Sparkle and her friends. That way they won't try anything unexpected while I take you to your new and better father, who can provide more then what your pathetic excuse of rulers of this empire can."

Then, two Changelings come in through the window, and one of them makes some snarling sounds which Azerrad seems to understand. "Excellent," said Azerrad, "the guards didn't know what hit them. Now we must wait until your Queen secures the Princess of Friendship and her friends down."

In one of the bedrooms, Twilight Sparkle rests with the same lonely expression that made its way onto her face some time ago. Then, she squints her face like she is in pain and rolls a bit left and right while taking quick breathes. It seems she is having a nightmare. "Ah, no!" Twilight mumbles in fright in her sleep, "Why? Why are you doing this to me? What have I ever done to you?"

In her dream, in her point of view, three colts are harassing Twilight. One of them laughs, "Ain't it obvious? You are with the high class snobs of Canterlot!"

"Yeah!" the other colt joined in, "All you care about is keeping to yourselves and not giving the proper respect to us regular ponies or 'blank flanks' as you like to tease us about!"

"T-that's not true!" Twilight says, who sounds more younger than herself and seems to be crying, "I don't even know you!"

The third colt without warning shoved Twilight down to the ground. "That's right! You don't!" the third colt spat out angrily, "You think we 'blank flanks' are the same, but that's hogwash! We are different, and that's what makes us special!"

"And now," the first colt says, stepping up to Twilight, "We'll teach you a lesson about respect, one that you will do well to remember for a long time!"

Then, the colt picked up a rock with his hooves and swung it down on Twilight's head. Everything goes dark for her, and all Twilight could hear next was another colt's voice. "Oi!" was all Twilight heard, and everything sounded faint.

"Oi. Are you okay?"

Twilight's vision returns, and she finds herself lying on the ground, feeling a sharp pain in her head and she winces.

"Oi, take it easy. That rock struck your head pretty hard."

Twilight looks up to see an Earth colt with a gray coat, lilac eyes and a small dark purple spiky mane, and he looks concerned for her. "W-who...who are you?" she asks.

The colt smiles softly, something that makes Twilight gasp quietly. "I'm Zenith," he answers, "What's your-"

The dream abruptly ends, and Twilight awakes to the feeling of being constricted. A green aura surrounds her legs and mouth and even her horn, and she screams, only to be muffled by the aura. She is lifted off the bed by the aura, and to Twilight's horror, standing near the open window is Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings.

Chrysalis's horn glows in the green aura as the constrictions are, and she walks up to the angry lilac Alicorn while chuckling. "Princess Twilight Sparkle." says Chrysalis, "I take it you are surprised?"

Twilight's angry shouts are muffled by the green aura, and Chrysalis chuckles more. "I'll take that as a yes." The bedroom door opens, and a Changeling walks in, snarling in a language foreign to Twilight, and Chrysalis grins. "Well done, my pet." she said.

Chrysalis walks out of the bedroom, taking Twilight in the air with her. To Twilight's shock, her friends are in the same predicament as she is, along with the green aura surrounding Applejack's and Pinkie's barrels, around Rainbow Dash's and Fluttershy's wings, and around Rarity's horn. Twilight tries to access her magic, but it isn't responding, which leaves her perplexed and scared as Chrysalis laughs.

"Don't bother, Twilight," Chrysalis cackled, "My spell has you and your friends' magic constricted. Right now you might be wondering, how? How could I cast this spell on an Alicorn, one that she could counter so easily yet for some reason she can't?"

Twilight hears two muffled voices, and she sees to her further shock, Shining Armor and Princess Cadance are trapped like she is.

"Well, you see," Chrysalis started to explain while pacing around, glaring at the ponies gleefully, "a certain, acquaintance I made some time ago gave me this power, one that is as powerful as love. Lust."

The ponies are shocked to hear such a word as Chrysalis continued, "By thinking about how that emotion is, pleasurable, I was able to trap you all in this spell."

"By now, most of her Changelings have dealt with the guards." an unfamiliar voice is heard down the hall. The ponies turn their heads, and saw with great shock that a black coated unicorn is levitating the sleeping yet suffering Flurry Heart in his red aura. "Especially your clumsy right-hoofed- oops. I mean, your clumsy and pathetic left-hoofed Pegasus of the Princess of Love." mocked Azerrad.

The muffled shouts of Shining Armor is heard as he glares angrily at the black unicorn, but Azerrad chuckles. "Insult me all you like, you sorry excuse of a Prince," Azerrad jeered gleefully, "You all have nopony to blame but yourselves." He turned to the constricted ponies, "You were so glad and surprised to see a baby Alicorn right before your eyes, it never occurred to you that somepony of evil intentions would intend to ponynap one for their own plans."

"Quite true." Chrysalis said, "It leads me to wonder if you foals are even worthy of being my rivals." The ponies simply glared at Chrysalis. "Well, I'm sure you will come to terms with your realization in due time."

"And it better be soon," Azerrad added, "or this little Alicorn's life will be a very short one."

As Azerrad and Chrysalis laughed, the ponies had a mixture of guilt, fear, and uncertainty on their faces. "Now then," Azerrad turned to the Changelings behind him, "You bring Twilight's friends and brother down to the castle grounds. Only Twilight and Cadance will remain somewhere else with your Queen." He then looked at Chrysalis who is a little agitated at his arrogant tone, "She has something frightening to show them."

"That I do." Chrysalis then uses her magic to levitate Twilight and Cadance and flew out the window with them as some Changelings followed her. The two Alicorn mares make muffled screams as the five mares and one stallion do the same, until they are out of each other's sight. Azerrad lights up his horn in a red aura, and it surrounds the ponies. He levitates them as they continue their muffled shouts, and he floats in the air while bringing the ponies and the baby Alicorn with him as the other Changelings follow him down the hall.

* * *

At the base of one of the snowy mountains, at the edge of the forest, a pony sleeps on one of the thick branches of a tree. It is Zenith, the stallion who saved the Cutie Mark Crusaders from the cragadile at Everfree Forest. Then, a voice is heard in his mind.

"Zenith...Zenith..."

Zenith grunts as the feminine and caring voice calls out to him. "What...who?"

In his dream, Zenith finds himself standing in a dimension consisting of various shades of blue and many little stars twinkling around him. The voice continues to call him. "Zenith..."

"Who's there?" Zenith called out.

"The time has come," said the mare voice, "for you are chosen by the forces above to save the world."

Then, a light appears and Zenith looks to his right to see it taking form. To his surprise, it looks like a mare, only taller and so blurry he can't squint his eyes enough to have a clear look at it. "Who are you?" Zenith asked.

"What you need to know," the mare explained, "is that this isn't the first time we met."

"What?" Zenith is taken aback by this statement.

"And," the mare continued, "that the world needs your help. A darkness that appeared in this land long ago is slowly returning from its imprisonment."

Zenith's eyes widen by that explanation. "I-I heard of that tale. But, didn't HE trap that darkness with the Elements of Harmony?" asked Zenith.

"Yes," replied the mare, "But the Elements used for the spell have weakened after a thousand years. The only way to stop the darkness is for the bearers of the Elements to bond with the chosen ones who will help them and protect them."

Zenith looks down in deep thought. Putting his life on the line to save the world without being able to search for his destiny? It seemed large to Zenith, but he didn't know the tale he heard about was completely true.

"There is little time to ponder." the mare said, breaking Zenith out of his thoughts. "The darkness has made its move as we speak." Then, the mare started glowing in a bright light, and Zenith gasps like a lightning bolt struck his head and looks at the mare.

"Wait, y-you're-"

"Let the power of the world flow within you," the mare interrupted as she fades away and many strands of magical energy surrounds Zenith, "and let it guide you in the most amazing ways you could not imagine."

As the mare disappears, the magic strands enter Zenith's body and coats him in a bright light. Zenith breathes deeply as he feels the magic within him...

And he wakes up quickly pressing his chest with is hoof. As he gets up, Zenith feels something different about himself. He tightens his other hoof, and he can feel the strength of it, more than he had all his life. Then he gasps, for he senses something and looks towards the Crystal Empire. Wasting little time, he put on his cloak hood and jumped off the branch and onto the ground, galloping towards the mountain.

* * *

At the far edge of the Crystal Empire border, Queen Chrysalis past it as her horn glows, which brings Twilight and Cadance floating behind her constricted in her magic. Eventually, Chrysalis lands near the base of a mountain, and the two Alicorns see a prison like cave with a bar door. With her magic, Chrysalis opens the door and glances with a smirk at Twilight and Cadance.

"This isn't what Azerrad was talking about, if you are worried about it." Chrysalis said, "It is who is inside that you should see."

The two Alicorns raise their eyebrows in confusion. In response, Chrysalis nudges her head to the cave, and Twilight and Cadance are immediately thrown into it. As they fall hard to the ground, the constriction rings disappear off of Twilight and Cadance, including their mouths, and Chrysalis quickly closes the door behind them. Twilight gets up, feeling pretty ticked off, and glares at Chrysalis.

"Chrysalis!" Twilight shouted angrily, "Whatever you're planning, it won't work! I didn't come all the way over here on the day to see my niece just to see you take her away from my sister-in-law! You have done some very bad things, but this just takes the cake!" She then flares up her horn in magic, and Twilight shoots a beam of magic at the door, only for it to be absorbed by the bars. They glow green like Chrysalis's magic, and Twilight is shocked. "What?!" she gasps.

Chrysalis laughs as Cadance gets up, glaring at the Queen. "It is futile!" says Chrysalis with a wicked smile, "These bars are coated with the same magic that constricted you! The whole cave has you trapped now! As long as I wield the power of lust Azerrad gave to me, you won't be able to break out no matter how many times you try!"

"You won't get away with this!" shouted Cadance, "if you lay one single hoof on my daughter, your legs won't be the only parts of your body filled with holes!"

"The baby Alicorn is no longer your concern," mocked Chrysalis, "You'd best save your concern for him." She nudged her head to her right, and Twilight and Cadance look in her direction. To their shock, a stallion Pegasus wearing armor lies unconscious on the ground with his wings both broken.

"Flash!" Twilight gasped and she runs to him. She kneels down and hesitantly places her hoof on Flash Sentry's neck as Cadance looks from behind. Flash is breathing hard, much to Twilight's and Cadance's relief, but his wings look so damaged that such a sight looks disturbing to them. But what Twilight saw is the blood on the ground and around the wings' axillaries and within the feathers. Her eyes followed the blood trail and she saw, to her horror, the big slash wound on the right side of Flash's barrel.

The wound looks nearly dry, so it hasn't been long since Flash lost most of his blood in that area. Such a sight made Twilight and Cadance glare furiously at Chrysalis. "How dare you do this to him!" Twilight shouted.

"Me?" Chrysalis said in a mockingly innocent tone, "I don't recall doing that to the pathetic birdbrain."

"Don't play dumb and insult that pony around me!" countered Twilight. "I take back what I said! Stealing my niece and hurting Flash takes the cake!"

"I agree wholeheartedly on that!" Cadance added.

"Oh, come now. What kind of princess accuses somepony without knowing the facts?" Chrysalis flipped her mane with her hoof, smiling smugly. "My acquaintance Azerrad might have something to do with that Pegasus, though you can believe what you so desperately want to believe."

Twilight glares at Chrysalis as she laughs. "Why, you bad, wretched-ah!" she feels something heavy affecting her head, and Cadance feels it too. "What, what's happening?" Twilight says.

"Oh, yes, I forgot to mention," Chrysalis said, "The spell enchanting the cave is luring you to sleep and draining your magic as we speak."

"She's right." said Cadance, clutching her head, "I can't keep my eyes open."

"Sweet dreams, Alicorns," Chrysalis mocked, taking flight, "I have a baby to, condition, to serve my master!" She then flies off to the empire laughing.

"Wait!" Twilight calls out weakly, trying to resist the spell's effects. But the source powering the spell is too strong for Twilight and Cadance to counter, and they both fall to the ground, losing conscious and drifting off to sleep.

* * *

On the other side of the border meanwhile, Azerrad holds the baby Alicorn who struggles in her sleep in the air with his magic while he smirks at Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Shining Armor who are still constricted by the rings. Six Changelings surround them, and Azerrad chuckles.

"Somehow I find this all too easy," Azerrad said, looking at the mad and sad faces of the six ponies, "My plan of capturing this baby Alicorn went so smoothly because you all let your guard down completely." He sees the ponies glaring at him. "Well then, your right to remain silent is revoked. Allow me to give you a new right."

Azerrad's horn glows red, and the rings surrounding the parts of the ponies aside from their barrels disappear. But then, they scream from a pain flowing in their bodies, and after the pain fades, they glare at Azerrad. "What did you do to us?!" Shining Armor shouted.

Another scream is heard, and Shining Armor sees to his shock that Rarity's horn is gone! Not only that, but the wings of Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash disappeared, and Applejack and Pinkie feel weak. "Not again!" Rarity spat angrily.

"Are you alright?" Shining Armor asked.

"Kind of," Rainbow Dash replied, "but my wings are gone! And so is your horn!"

Shining Armor raised his hoof to feel his horn, only to feel his forehead, and he gasps.

"Whoa. I don't feel pretty well." Applejack moaned as her legs shook from her weight.

"And I can't keep my balance." Pinkie suddenly fell to the ground, and tried to get up. Azerrad laughs like a crazed pony as Fluttershy shivers in fright from the sound of the laugh.

"Not only did I give you the right to speak once more," Azerrad explains, "But I also took away the important parts of you! The magical horns of the Unicorns, the agile wings of the Pegasi, and the massive strength of the Earth Ponies! It's to ensure that you don't try anything funny, or the baby Alicorn gets it real bad!" He laughs once more.

Fluttershy's eyes fill with tears, and she glares at Azerrad. "How could you be so cruel?!" she screamed at him, surprising the other ponies.

"Nopony's perfect," replied Azerrad. He then walks past the ponies while bringing Flurry Heart with him.

"Where are you taking my daughter?!" Shining Armor tried to run at Azerrad, but the Changelings block his path much to his frustration.

"To my master, of course." Azerrad smirks evilly at the ponies, "Once he 'conditions' this baby Alicorn, the power it wields will be his to command! And there's nothing you pathetic ponies can do to stop him! Not that you bothered to, anyway. I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to think that over once you have a nice 'fall' to your well deserved 'break!'" He laughs as he walks away with the floating baby Alicorn beside him.

"That's...not...funny." Pinkie says weakly. The Changelings then snarl at the ponies, and they nudge them to move. Reluctantly the ponies do so, and the Changelings lead them away from the Crystal Empire.

* * *

At the Castle of Friendship, Starlight Glimmer and Spike are sleeping in different rooms side by side to each other. Starlight is sleeping peacefully well, and Spike snores without a care in the world. But then, Spike stops snoring and starts to breathe hard, for something starts to change in his dream. "Huh? What? The...the Crystal Empire?" Spike mutters in his sleep, "What am I doing-" He then gasps, "What? Twilight? Rarity? The girls? They, they are...in-" Spike struggles under the blanket.

"RARITY!" Spike shouts as he awakes. Breathing hard, he holds his claw up to his chest.

Then, the door of his room opens, and Starlight walks in concerned for the dragon.

"Spike?" Starlight worryingly asks, "What happened? I heard you scream."

"I thought it was a nightmare," Spike stammered in between breaths, "yet it felt so real. I saw Twilight, Rarity and our friends being held captive and..." Spike holds his head to recall what else he saw.

"And what?" Starlight lightly stressed.

Spike groans in his attempt, then he gasps. "And the Changelings attacked the Crystal Empire and some bad pony stole a little baby foal!" Spike blurts out.

Starlight gasps. "Are you sure it was just a nightmare?" she asked.

Before Spike can answer, Starlight feels a major pain within her horn and lets out a yelp. "Starlight?" Spike gets out of bed and attempts to keep Starlight on her hooves. "What is it?"

Starlight moans as she regains her bearings. "I, I felt this scary magic, far away from here." Starlight then walks up to the window and looks to her left. Spike does the same. "And I think it came from the northern part of Equestria." said Starlight.

"Then that means," Spike let out a large gasp, "my nightmare is real! Something bad is happening at the Crystal Empire! We gotta go help our friends!"

"But Spike," Starlight demurred, "it's probably halfway morning by now! Even with my teleportation spell we'll just end up in a random place, probably farther than that since we just woke up from a good night's rest!"

"But we gotta do something!" Spike reiterated, "but what?"

"Allow me!" a voice blurted out. Spike and Starlight looked around startled by where the voice came from. Then, a flash of light erupted for a second, and they see to their surprise...

"Discord!" Spike said to the floating draconequus as Starlight stares at the creature.

"Yes, Discord, former spirit of chaos, blah, blah, blah, got reformed by Fluttershy," Discord quickly said, "enough formalities! I hear you two are in dire need to get to the Crystal Empire?"

"Yeah, and fast!" Spike urged, "Something bad is happening there and our friends are in danger!"

Starlight snaps out of her rude staring. "But I can't risk my teleporting spell bringing us to a random location!" she said.

"Never fear!" Discord dramatically stated, "That's part of why I am here! I'll channel my magic into Fluttershy's new Unicorn friend's horn, that way you'll get to where you want to go in a flash!"

"Aren't you gonna help us?" Spike asked.

"I would, but Fluttershy's animal friends are frightened by something terrible!" Discord said, "Somepony's got to keep them calm and collected, but, I wish you two the best of luck! Now, allow me to do the honours!"

Discord held out his claw, and a light yellow aura emits from it, flowing towards Starlight's horn. Spike watches anxiously as Starlight grunts a bit from the magic of the draconequus being channelled into her horn. Eventually, Discord cuts off the channelling, and Starlight feels a bit woozy.

"Whoa." Starlight says, wobbling a bit, "I feel a bit dizzy."

"It'll wear off, but a part of my magic is yours to control now, but only for less than an hour." Discord explained, "Now, if you will excuse me, I must calm down the animals running around Fluttershy's residence. Good luck!" With that, Discord disappears quickly as he came.

Spike looks up at Starlight. "Are you okay?" he asks.

"Yeah, I think so," Starlight replied, "and I think I'm getting the hang of Discord's magic flowing in my horn. With this much magic, I might get us close enough to the Crystal Empire with the teleporting spell."

"Great!" Spike chirped, but then went to his serious expression. "I have faith that you can do this."

"Thanks." said Starlight, "Grab hold, Spike."

Spike holds onto Starlight's leg, and she starts to concentrate. With the light yellow and light turquoise auras flickering around her horn, Starlight and Spike is soon surrounded by the combined magic. Then, in a loud poof, they disappear and the strands of magic flow into the sky towards the northern horizon.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	9. Chapter 8

At the prison cave, two Alicorns and a Pegasus lie on the ground. Twilight Sparkle and Princess Cadance are sleeping due to the spell the cave is under, and Flash Sentry is in pain from his broken wings. The two Alicorns breathe hard, for they seem to be having a nightmare. In Twilight's dream, she finds herself in a black dimension surrounded by gray doors.

"Where am I?" Twilight asks herself, "And what's with these doors?" Then, the doors open one by one, and Twilight is shocked.

Inside each door is the memories of the bad times Twilight went through, from her young days as a filly to the irrational moments of her time in Ponyville. The doors start to spin around Twilight, and she feels frightened as they get closer to her, the noises of those events getting louder. Twilight tries to light up her horn, but somehow her magic is not responding. Being perplexed and scared of being unable to defend herself, Twilight quickly lies down and covers her ears with her hooves while closing her eyes. "What's going on?!" she shouts in fear, "What's happening?! Help! Somepony help! Cadance! Big Brother! Princess Celestia! Spike! Girls! Somepony help me, please!"

As the noise gets louder, Twilight tenses up from the situation she is in, both the dream and the events at the Crystal Empire. Unable to take it, she screams. "ZENITH!"

Then it stops.

The noise disappears along with the doors, and Twilight opens her eyes to see that they are gone. But what caught her by surprise is the name she shouted out. "Z-Zenith?" Twilight says in confusion, "How do I know somepony named 'Zenith'?"

Then, a faint flash of golden light appears behind Twilight. She turns around as the light gets brighter, and Twilight sees a floating gold door with a silver knob. Somehow, seeing it brings a good feeling to her, and Twilight wonders why it feels familiar. She walks to it and brings her hoof close to the knob, until a voice is heard.

"Oi. Are you okay?"

Twilight pulls back a bit, being startled. Then she hears the grunt of a little filly's voice. Twilight's voice, from long ago, which she recognizes.

"Oi. Take it easy. That rock struck your head pretty hard."

Twilight realizes that those voices are coming from behind the door, and they are from the dream she had before Chrysalis captured her. "Here goes." Twilight says quietly as she puts her hoof on the knob, since her magic isn't working at the moment. She opens the door and winces from the brightness within the space the door leads to. But Twilight walks forward to it, passing through the door. It closes behind her and disappears.

Twilight finds herself in a park in Canterlot on a bright sunny day, but it looks unfamiliar to her. "What is this place?" Twilight wonders, and she notices her voice echoing a bit, "And why am I a little transparent?" Twilight notices her body looking faint, and can see the grass through her leg. She looks up and sees where the voices came from.

On the other side of the small pond, lying on the ground, is a young Twilight with a white cloth wrapped around her head, and standing near her, is a colt with a gray coat and a spiky dark purple mane wearing a thin purple scarf. Twilight recognizes the colt as the same one from her earlier dream. The young Twilight looks up to the concerned colt. "W-who...who are you?" she asks.

The colt smiles. "I'm Zenith," he replies. "What's your name?"

Young Twilight hesitates a bit, but as she looks at the caring and calm eyes of the colt, she feels something warm in her heart, a kind of feeling that is unfamiliar and yet...nice. The Twilight who watches from afar also feels it, and she wonders why.

"Twilight," young Twilight says, "Twilight Sparkle."

The colt smiles again, but softly. "That's a beautiful name." he said in a cooing manner, and nervously blushes while scratching his head with his hoof and glancing down. "It, um...it suits your...your eyes."

The young Twilight gasps quietly to the compliment, and the Alicorn Twilight gasps at this as well. She then wonders, what is this memory? And how come does she not recall it even once? The more she wondered, more questions entered Twilight's mind, the kind that even she has trouble calculating and solving on her own.

* * *

The strands of turquoise and yellow magic flow across the sky until it zooms in on the Crystal Empire. It flies through one of the windows of the top room of the castle, and in a subtle and magical transition, Spike and Starlight Glimmer appear in the throne room.

"Well, that was easy." Spike said quietly.

"More like risky." replied Starlight, looking around apprehensively, "I was thinking of being in a throne room while teleporting us here, so I had no idea what to expect. This is the first time I've been at the Crystal Empire, though I wish I could've come here under better circumstances."

"We'll try that later." Spike said, "For now, we gotta keep our eyes open for any Changelings. You'll never know which pony will act in a weird way until it reveals him or herself as one of those things."

Then, the doors behind them open, and they turn around to see two guards, a Unicorn and a Pegasus, glaring at them. "Halt!" said the Pegasus guard, holding his spear at Spike and Starlight's direction, "Who are you two and what are you doing here this late at night?"

Starlight is nervous and a little scared as she tried to speak, but Spike put his claw on her shoulder to calm her down. She sees Spike giving an assuring look. "I've got this." he said, and he turned to the guards. "At ease, guards. I am the Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious, and this is my new friend, Starlight Glimmer." As Spike points to her, Starlight is a bit confused at the long epithet Spike had declared.

The guards seem to ease their suspicion, yet kept their watchful eye on Starlight. "Alright," said the Unicorn guard, "But this Unicorn must come with us for questioning."

Starlight tenses up from still being intimidated. "With all due respect," Spike interjected, "this is an emergency. Have you seen any black creatures who have light blue eyes and wings and holes on their legs, who seem to be ponies but are not? We think they have entered this Empire in disguise and-"

"Silence!" the Pegasus guard spoke up loudly, cutting off Spike, "We are not here for games, dragon. If that Unicorn does not comply, we'll have to hold her under strict supervision until our Queen decides what to do with-" the Pegasus guard's eyes widen and holds his hoof to his mouth. The Unicorn guard looks at him angry and scared, while Spike and Starlight are a little confused.

"Queen?" Starlight wonders out loud. "We don't have Queens in Equestria."

It took a second for something to click in his mind, and Spike gasped. "Queen Chrysalis! They are Changelings!" The two guards then growled while their eyes glowed bright green. "Quick! Blast them with your magic, Starlight!" Spike shouted.

"What?!" Starlight said as the guards stepped forward towards her and Spike, "But how do you know-?

"Just do it!" Spike shot back stressfully.

Starlight sees the guards galloping at them, and she wastes no time concentrating her magic. Her horn lights up in a turquoise and yellow mixed aura, and with a flick of her head, Starlight casts a blasting spell at the two guards. It hits them, and they fall to the ground unconscious. Their forms dissipate and in their place is two knocked out Changelings. Spike and Starlight are a little shocked about this. "Those are Changelings?" Starlight asked.

"Yeah." replied Spike, "They are bad guys, but I'll tell you about them later! Right now we gotta search for our friends! C'mon!"

Spike and Starlight run out of the throne room, only to stop in their tracks as more Changelings are in front of them, snarling angrily at them. "Now what?!" Starlight asks out loud in fear.

Spike's eyes lit up, for he gets an idea. He then jumps onto Starlight's back and makes a cowcolt impression. "Ride like the wind, Starlight!" he says.

"Excuse me?" Starlight glares at Spike despite being afraid, "What in Equestria are you trying to pull?"

"Please, Starlight," Spike replied stressfully, "Go with me on this! You use your magic to blast them out of the way while I use my fire to cover our flanks!"

"Okay," Starlight reluctantly said, "But you and I are talking about your little joke later."

Starlight lights up her horn and blasts some magic at the Changelings in front. She then gallops down the hall as the other Changelings try to catch up to her, but Spike uses his flame breath to keep them at bay. The little dragon and the heliotrope Unicorn make their way down the stairs as the Changelings give chase.

* * *

Along the side of the mountain not far off from the Crystal Empire, six Changelings snarl at the six ponies whose barrels are constricted by Queen Chrysalis's magic as they walk down the path. Shining Armor, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkie Pie walk in utter silence and sadness while being surrounded by the Changelings guiding them to the location, most of them anyway.

The ponies would've done anything to save each other from this predicament, but Chrysalis's acquaintance, Azerrad, took away their magic with his own. In the process, Shining Armor's and Rarity's foreheads are devoid of their horns, Rainbow Dash's and Fluttershy's wings are not on their backs, and Applejack and Pinkie feel so weak that aside from mumbling they didn't have the strength to move their jaws to speak.

While the two white Unicorns feel pretty uncomfortable without their horns, the cyan Pegasus was so frustrated about losing her wings again she wanted to buck the Changelings. But due to the magic and her wings being gone, Rainbow Dash reluctantly decided that they are in enough trouble without her making it worse.

Fluttershy meanwhile is so scared that she could feel her barrel shaking, even when the constricting magic on it. Eventually, she mustered up her courage, and glancing at the Changelings to see they are not watching, leaned close to Shining Armor. "Um, Shining Armor?" Fluttershy whispered, clearly enough to get the white stallion's attention, "If you don't mind me asking, where are these Changelings taking us?"

"I have no clue," Shining Armor answered, "But I'm worried about all of our safety, including Cadance, my sister Twily...and Flurry Heart."

"I am so sorry all of this happened." Fluttershy said.

"It's not anypony's fault," replied Shining Armor, "but it certainly is that black Unicorn's fault." he says this in a seething anger, which made Fluttershy startlingly give him space.

Rarity sees this and leans close to the white stallion. "Now, Shining Armor. Don't let that brute get to you. We are all on edge as it is."

"Sorry," Shining Armor calmed down a bit. "but all of this happening to us, and right after my daughter seeing this world with her little eyes, while she and my wife are in danger, just makes me so mad."

The Changeling in front of Shining Armor turned its head and snarled loudly at him. The white stallion simply glared at it, and the Changeling looked back ahead, believing he got the message.

Little did any of them notice, that somepony is hiding among the rocks watching them. It is Zenith, peeking his white cloaked hooded head over a large rock. He looked at where they were going and back at them. With a hint of anger in his eyes, he quietly, and quickly, left the rock in a flash to the destination, without as much as a sound.

"Still," Rarity said as she and friends continue to walk, "I wonder what that brute meant by having a nice fall to a well deserved break?"

A few seconds later, the ponies look down in fear from the edge of a cliff they stand near at, as the Changelings stand behind them. "Oh," said Rarity, nervously, "now I understand."

"They're gonna push us off this cliff?!" Rainbow Dash blurted out, as she turned around to face the Changelings. "Seriously, if I had my wings right now, I'd leave these guys in the dust!

"Rainbow, don't be reckless!" Shining Armor said worryingly, "As much as I hate to admit it, we're in more than huge amounts of dust."

"I think I'm hyperventilating just thinking about it." Rarity shuddered.

The Changelings snarled at the ponies while stepping towards them. The ponies who turned around stepped back, but they felt the edge of the cliff. If they step any further, they will fall down, probably to Celestia knows what.

What the ponies and Changelings didn't notice is that Zenith, the white hooded pony is looking at them from a higher cliff above them. Seeing the creatures threatening the ponies angered him, so he tightens his hood on his head.

"Oh, normally I wish for a miracle to save us all from this, like how those pony tales state they will," Rarity groaned in fear, "but I can't seem to hope for one right now!"

"I thought the end of us would involve being covered by party stuff fired from Pinkie's party cannon." Rainbow Dash muttered out loud. She immediately felt an intimidating sensation as Dash looked at the glares of her friends, the most menacing of them being Pinkie. "But that's unlikely to happen, right?" she chuckles nervously.

The Changelings stepped closer to the ponies glaring at them. Their hind hooves are just close to the cliff as the ponies look scared. As Fluttershy and Rarity close their eyes, waiting for their fates...

"YYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

A masculine shout is heard from above. Startled and confused, the ponies and the Changelings look up, and to their shock, see a white hooded pony falling down towards them. Before anypony can react...

SPLAT!

Zenith landed hard on one of the Changelings, knocking it out. The other five Changelings then leap at him, but the he back flips over one of them. As Zenith does that, he grabs one of the Changeling's head with his hooves, and as he lands behind it, he pulls the Changeling by its head to his right. In one swift move, Zenith swings the Changeling, knocking out two of the remaining Changelings and letting go of the one he grabbed hold of, and they fall to the ground unconscious.

The other ponies watch in shock and surprise at how easily this pony is fighting the Changelings. One of the last two attacked Zenith, but he countered with a lot of punches and kicks, eventually finishing it off with a punch to the nose. As that Changeling falls, the last one makes a head charge at Zenith, who simply stands still looking at it. The six ponies react in fear for the safety of the hooded pony, until Zenith mumbles something out loud in a foreign language.

"Uma Sentō Ryū..." Zenith disappears to the surprise of the Changeling and the ponies, and he reappears up close to the Changeling with his hoof close to its face. Before the Changeling can react...

"...Ichi Inchi-" the hooded pony moves his hoof at an impossible speed and punches the Changeling in the face and bringing it back in a split second, "-HIDZUME PANCHI!"

The blow creates a shockwave, sending the Changeling crashing into the wall of the mountain knocking it out. But, the shockwave flies past between Shining Armor and Rarity, and the white mare in fear tried to step away...

Only for her hind hoof to step on nothing beyond the cliff, which makes Rarity fall down from it.

"RARITY!" her friends shouted in fear as Rarity screamed while falling. Zenith sees this, and grunts in frustration. In a split second, he gallops to the cliff and leaps off of it, and falls down, to the surprise of the other ponies.

"Is that pony crazy?!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

Rarity continues to scream until her throat couldn't take it anymore. She looks to the ground coming ever closer to her. 'Curse it all,' the white mare thought, 'I didn't want it to end like this. I wanted to spread my fashion sense across Equestria, to spread the meaning of generosity to everypony who hasn't experienced it.

'I'm sorry, everypony. Sweetie Belle, I hope you and your friends help the young ponies discover their talents. Mother, father, I hope that you are proud of me and what I did for everypony. My friends, I thank you all for the wonderful times we shared together. And...Spike. I appreciate your efforts to make me happy. I'm just so sorry I didn't let you know how much I did. I hope you have it in your pony heart to forgive me for leaving you like this. I am just so, so sorry.'

Tears flow out of her eyes as Rarity closes them, waiting for fate to get it over with...

WHOOSH!

But something embraces her and the air quickly blows at her from above. When she opens her eyes, Rarity saw to her shock that she is getting further away from the ground. She looks behind her and sees the hooded pony holding her barrel tightly yet gently with his right foreleg as he runs up the cliff. The stallion and the four mares see this in shock and amazement from the cliff.

Then, as Zenith reaches the edge, he leaps off the cliff, right over the ponies, while pulling Rarity over his shoulder, letting go for a moment. To Rarity, she thought in fear the pony might do something else to her, but those thoughts are quickly dashed as Zenith quickly held her from underneath with his forelegs as he landed on the rocky ground, on his hind legs at that.

And then silence.

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Shining Armor stare in disbelief at the hooded pony holding Rarity in his forelegs. The white mare is still shaken from what happened, but for some reason the toned muscles and the soft coat strands on the forelegs of the pony holding her feel...relaxing. Rarity looked up at the hooded face of the pony who returns the gesture.

"Are you alright, ma'am?" Zenith asks.

Rarity's eyes widen from hearing the soothing masculine voice of her savior, and her cheeks turn bright pink. All the white mare could let out from her mouth, is the giggle of a school filly, as she turns her head away embarrassingly while glancing at the hooded pony.

"I'll...take that as a yes." Zenith gently lifted Rarity up while putting her down on her hind hoofs, and moved face to face with her while aiding her forelegs to the ground. "Sorry about that shockwave."

Rarity stepped back sheepishly while trying to regain her composure. "Oh, no harm done." she said, "I'm just eternally grateful that you saved me and my friends' lives."

Zenith looks to the shocked faces of Rarity's friends.

"That...was...AWESOME!" Rainbow Dash yelled in awe.

The five mares and the white stallion gathered in front Zenith and thanked him for rescuing them.

"You sure saved our flanks back there!" said Rainbow Dash.

"I thought we were goners." Shining Armor added in, "Thanks a lot."

"Um...thank you." Fluttershy said, blushing a bit.

"Thanks for the save." Applejack mumbled smiling.

"Mm-hmm." Pinkie Pie mumbled in a somewhat half-happy manner.

Zenith notices how weak Applejack and Pinkie looked, and the constricting rings around the other ponies' barrels. "You all are most welcome, but, what are those things around your barrels?" he asked.

"Some sort of sealing magic." Shining Armor answered, "A Unicorn casted a spell on us, taking away our horns, wings, and strength."

"And it makes me twenty percent lamer then a slow dragon!" complained Rainbow Dash.

"Oi. That is pretty bad." Zenith replied.

Shining Armor looks at the hooded pony in shock, for somehow he believes he heard that strange word 'Oi' from somewhere long ago, but when?

"Hang on," said Zenith, reaching into his robe, "I have something that will counter that magic."

"What sort of something, if you don't mind me asking?" Fluttershy asked.

Zenith takes out something from his robe, and on his hoof is a white, nearly transparent pearl, shining in the moonlight. "This may not look like it," he explains, "but this pearl has magical properties, and when used properly can it cast the essential spells for certain situations."

"How in the hay would that help us?" Rainbow Dash said sternly, "I heard that only Unicorns can access magical stuff."

"No argument there." added Shining Armor.

"That may be," Zenith replied, "But unlike other 'magical stuff', this pearl can respond to the chants of a spell when used correctly."

"Are you sure?" asked Rarity.

"Do you all want to get your pony traits back or not?" Zenith shot back sternly.

The other ponies are taken aback by this abrupt question, but they then believed that the sooner they get out of this spell, the quicker they can save the Crystal Empire. After looking at each other and nodding, they turn their attention to the hooded pony.

"We do." Shining Armor said.

"Alright. Allow me to make room. This could get a little, extreme." Zenith then leaped back a bit far from the ponies, while strangely keeping the pearl in his hoof. Once he landed at a certain distance, he looks at the pearl.

"Uma Kaunta Mahō..." Zenith chanted in the same language he used when fighting the Changelings. At these words, the pearl glowed in a white aura, to the amazement of the ponies. The pearl then floated in the air, and with a flick of his hoof...

"Kusari Burēka!"

Zenith pointed to the ponies, and the magic from the pearl flowed out towards them. It starts to flow around the anxious ponies in a quick manner. Then, beams of white light stab into the green magic rings on the ponies, much to their surprise, and the rings disappear in a puff of black smoke. Before anypony can say anything, the beams quickly flowed into the bodies of the five mares and stallion, enveloping them in a white aura.

Then a flash of light erupted from them in a second.

The magic from the pearl stops flowing and floats back down onto Zenith's hoof. He then sees that the ponies were looking at him feeling anxious.

"Did it work?" Shining Armor asked.

"Why don't you check your barrels?" Zenith asked back.

The ponies do that, and to their shock and relief, the green rings are gone.

"WHOA!" Rainbow Dash's eyes widen, alerting the other ponies, for not only is the frustrating ring gone, but her wings are back! After flapping her wings and taking off into the air, Rainbow's face beamed like she passed a Wonderbolt test. "Yeah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" she laughed doing a few loops in the air, "The fastest flier in Equestria is back in action!"

Fluttershy looks at her back, to see her wings have returned. "Oh, thank goodness." she said happily.

After checking their barrels, Shining Armor and Rarity look at each other and gasped. "Rarity! Your horn's back!" Shining Armor pointed out.

Rarity held her hoof to where her horn was, and sure enough, it is back on her forehead, "So is yours!" she replied. Shining Armor did the same to his major relief.

"Yee, hah!" Applejack cheerfully howled, making some bucking maneuvers with her hind legs. "Ah feel as strong as a minotaur chargin' into a brick wall!"

"And I feel so happy that I could just bounce! WOO-HOO-HOO-HOO!" Pinkie shouted happily as she bounced a few times. "And I also feel like talking non-stop, but I'll save that for tomorrow morning's victory party!"

Zenith walked up to the ponies while putting away the pearl into his robe. "Not only did the spell get rid of those rings," he said, "but it brought back out your pony traits that was sealed within all of you."

"And we thank you again for that, don't we?" Rarity said, and her friends agreed in unison.

Zenith looked at the Changelings lying unconscious on the ground. "What are those creatures that threatened you anyway?"

"Changelings." Shining Armor replied, "They are insect versions of ponies who disguise themselves as regular ponies and feed on their love to survive."

"Really? That's, um...gross and awkward." Zenith said in a disbelieving and unsettling tone. This makes the other ponies look at him confusingly. How could he not know about the Changelings if he is from somewhere in Equestria? The hooded pony looks back at the ponies. "Do they work alone?"

"Nope. They work for a more smarty pants Changeling who looks like the Princesses but she is not one." Pinkie replied.

"And her name is Chrysalis, though she arrogantly calls herself the Queen of the Changelings." Rarity added in.

"And a Unicorn named Azerrad teamed up with her to capture my daughter, that same Unicorn that casted the sealing spell on us." Shining Armor said, "Though I have no idea where my sister and wife have been taken to by Chrysalis."

Under his hood, Zenith's eyes widen at the mention of this 'Azerrad', though the other ponies didn't notice. "That so? Alright, that's all I need to know." Zenith turns around to the direction of the Crystal Empire.

"Where're ya goin', sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

Zenith looks back at Applejack and chuckles. "'Sugarcube.' What an affectionate nickname." he says with a smile, which makes Applejack's eyes widen a bit, then she blushes a little.

"I'm gonna find this Chrysalis and defeat her."

What Zenith said made the ponies gasp. "What are ya, nuts?!" Rainbow Dash blurted out.

"B-b-but, many Changelings have the Crystal Empire surrounded by now!" argued Fluttershy, quietly.

"And my wife and daughter and sister are in danger!" Shining Armor demurred sternly.

Zenith looked back at Shining Armor, and smirked. "Beating up six of those creatures is just a quarter portion of what I can do. Me versus an army? Well...even if you see that you wouldn't believe it." He then crouches, and then jumps with much force off the ground, and lands on a tip of a rock. This leaves the ponies speechless. As the hooded pony is about to leap...

"Wait!" Rarity called out. Zenith looks down at Rarity. "Before you go do the impossible," she said, "Would you mind telling us who you are and where are you from?"

For a few seconds Zenith stayed silent, 'Huh. Déjà vu.' he thought. He then spoke out loud, "What you need to know about me for now...is that I am not from Equestria."

The ponies gasp at the answer given to them. With that, Zenith leaps off the rock and continues leaping over through the mountains towards the Crystal Empire. The ponies stand dumbfounded for a moment.

"Not from Equestria?" Pinkie said out loud, "Pie's traditions! First time I heard of a pony not being from around here!"

"None of us do, I think," Shining Armor replied, "but we'll think about that later! Right now, we gotta get to the Crystal Empire and stop the Changelings from taking my daughter away!"

"Right!" Applejack looks over to Rainbow Dash. "Lead the way, RD!"

"On it, AJ!" Rainbow Dash saluted and flew to the Crystal Empire, her friends following her from behind.

* * *

Near the base of the Crystal Castle, Azerrad is holding the whimpering sleeping baby Alicorn with his magic, smiling deviously at it. "I still find it amusing." he said to himself, "The plan worked so easily because those pathetic ponies let their guard down a whole lot. If that's not taking candy from a foal, I don't-"

ZING!

Azerrad yelped from the pain erupting from his head, and in a second it fades, leaving behind only a numb feeling. "What in the...?" he gasps, "My spell! It is broken! Those constriction rings I put on those ponies are gone! Who dares to get in my way?!"

Then, a Changeling runs up to Azerrad, breathing hard, and snarling something hastily, like it is trying to make a desperate point. The black Unicorn's eyes widen.

"WHAT?!" Azerrad shouted. The Changeling backed off in fear. "A pony and a dragon are here, and you have trouble capturing them?!" He then grunts in frustration. "Make sure they do not leave this castle! I'll be there shortly to deal with them! Now, go!"

The Changeling nodded quickly and took off for the entrance of the castle. Then, Queen Chrysalis appears behind him. "I couldn't help but overhear your frustration." she says. Azerrad looks at Chrysalis as he tries to calm down.

"I take it we have uninvited guests?" Chrysalis asked.

"Yes, and very rude ones at that." Azerrad replied. He then smiles. "But soon, they will be...dead ones."

TO BE CONTINUED...


	10. Chapter 9

Within her dream, Twilight Sparkle looks at the vision of the past that involves her young self and the colt who saved her. What bothers Twilight though, is that she is unable to remember when this event happened, nor recall fully who the colt is, except for his name. But for some reason Twilight is able to feel the warm emotion her young self is feeling, and that raises more questions about what is going on.

She then notices that the scene paused on itself. Before Twilight could ponder what is happening...

"Twilight!" a familiar voice called out. Twilight turned around and saw Princess Cadance running towards her.

"Cadance!" Twilight responded as the pink Alicorn came to a stop in front of her, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, for now." Cadance replied, "But why are we in Canterlot?"

"I think we are in my memories," Twilight said, "but I'm not familiar with this one." She looked back at her young self and the colt, only to see to her confusion that they disappeared. "Huh?"

"Is something wrong?" Cadance asked.

"Uh, nothing." replied Twilight, looking back at Cadance, "We gotta get ourselves out of this spell Chrysalis put on us. It showed me my memories of certain parts of my, not so bright, moments."

"That happened to me, too." Cadance added in, "Until I heard your voice, and a golden door appeared before me."

Twilight gasped at this. "Same here!" she said, "except for hearing your voice. I think that door led us to this memory to get us away from those ones torturing us."

"I can even sense the good magic emitting from this memory." said Cadance, "Maybe if we can control that magic with our own and think about waking up..."

Twilight's eyes lit up. "Our combined magic can break Chrysalis's spell on us and we'll wake up!" she finished.

"It might take some time, and it may be strenuous," Cadance cautioned, "but it's worth trying."

"Then let's do it!" said Twilight.

Twilight and Cadance then close their eyes, and their horns light up in their magical auras. Then, golden ribbon like strands of magic flow from the area around the two Alicorns, and it surrounds their horns. Twilight and Cadance grunt from the pressure of their magic combining with the memory's magic, but they keep their focus as they try their hardest to break Chrysalis's spell, for the sake of their friends and the citizens of the Crystal Empire.

* * *

Inside the Crystal Castle, Starlight Glimmer runs down the stairs as Spike rides on her back while the Changelings chase after them. Starlight uses her magic to blast the Changelings in front out of the way, while Spike blows out large bursts of fire at the Changelings behind them.

As they get to the base of the stairs, Spike and Starlight notice the main door. "There's the exit!" Spike shouted. "Hurry!"

"I'm a hurrying!" Starlight yelled. As Starlight galloped for the exit as fast as she could...

ZAP!

A blast of red magic is shot at Spike and Starlight. The dragon and Unicorn yell in pain as they are sent flying and land hard on the floor. Evil laughter is heard, and Spike and Starlight look to the opened doors and see to their horror, Queen Chrysalis and Azerrad entering as the Changelings surround them. Spike and Starlight notice a baby Alicorn panting heavily and in pain while being held in levitation by the black Unicorn's magic.

"Well now," Azerrad said, glaring gleefully at the shocked dragon and Unicorn, "I was wondering what all the ruckus was about, and here I see the cause of it. A pair of uninvited guests."

"Chrysalis!" Spike barked.

"That's 'Queen' Chrysalis to you!" Chrysalis barked back.

"Then, who is that Unicorn?" Starlight asked.

"Who? Me? Oh, silly me. Where are my manners?" Azerrad walked up to Spike and Starlight while carrying the baby Alicorn, "I am Azerrad, and Chrysalis and I are here to take this Alicorn offspring to her new master."

Despite being afraid, Spike looks at the baby Alicorn in awe. "An Alicorn?" Spike wondered out loud.

"Yes, and a very young one at that." Azerrad replied, "But I'm afraid this will be the first and last time you will see one alive." Azerrad then lifts his hoof up, and to their shock, Spike and Starlight start to feel their throats being choked while floating up in the air. Even Chrysalis is surprised by this, along with the Changelings.

"Ack! I- I can't- breathe!" Starlight gasped as she grasped her throat with her hooves.

"Starlight! Ack! Who-whoever- you are- Ack! You- you won't- Ack! get away- Ack! with this!" Spike choked while glaring at Azerrad.

"Oh, I think I already have." Azerrad demurred, "Good night, you young foals, forever."

Azerrad's choking ability gets stronger as Spike and Starlight's throats are squeezed more tighter. As Chrysalis looks amusingly at the fading glints in the dragon's and mare's eyes...

"KYU-JU DO HIRYO!"

BOOM!

A sudden shockwave blows in from the doors, knocking the surprised Chrysalis, the Changelings and Azerrad off balance. This results in Azerrad losing control of his chocking ability, as Spike and Starlight fall to the floor, coughing for some air. Azerrad gasps, for not only does he recognize the voice, but he also senses somepony's presence outside the castle, and a very familiar one at that.

Grunting in frustration, Azerrad gallops to the entrance with the baby Alicorn in his magic, with Chrysalis and her Changelings following in tow. As they got outside, Azerrad and Chrysalis see to their shock that a lot of the other Changelings outside are knocked out, and in front of them is a white hooded pony breathing lightly from attacking them.

"My babies!" Chrysalis cried.

The pony named Zenith notices Azerrad and Chrysalis looking at him, the former in frustration and the latter in anger, until Azerrad gasps upon recognizing him.

"You!" Azerrad blurts out.

"You will pay for what you've done!" Chrysalis shouts angrily, and she then lunges at the hooded pony.

"No! Wait!" Azerrad yelled.

POW!

But it was too late.

Before she knew it, Chrysalis's face is in shock and pain, and she notices that Zenith is underneath her head. He punched the Changeling Queen in her barrel so hard that she nearly stumbles from the impact.

"Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings, huh?" Zenith wondered out loud. "So far your arrogance is not as threatening as they claim you to be."

Insulted by that remark, Chrysalis charges up her horn with her magic, but Zenith quickly pushes her down to her back. He then grabs her horn between his hoof and wrist tightly.

"Hold it!" Azerrad shouts.

Zenith and Chrysalis looks to see Azerrad holding Flurry Heart with his magic above him. "I'm warning you," Azerrad said, "one false move and this baby Alicorn's life will end up being a very short one!"

"Dang." Zenith muttered.

"But, Azerrad," Chrysalis struggled to break free of the pony's grasp on her horn, "Your master wants us to bring that Alicorn to him alive! Isn't that what's imperative now?"

"Unless that pony complies with us," Azerrad snarls loudly, holding the baby Alicorn tightly with his magic, "if I can't have this little Alicorn, nopony will!"

Zenith grunts in frustration.

"Azerrad!" a voice calls out.

Zenith, Azerrad and Chrysalis look to the castle's right and sees Shining Armor, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash galloping towards them. "Give me back my daughter!" Shining Armor yelled.

"Yeah! Give Flurry Heart back or you'll get it big time!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"FOALS!" Azerrad furiously hoisted his hoof up, and immediately the white stallion and the five mares stop in their tracks while feeling their throats getting choked. The hooded pony and Chrysalis are shocked at what they are seeing.

"Ack! What's- happening?!" Applejack gasped.

"Feels like- Ack! I'm- choking on- Ack! a crumb- of a- Ack! daisy- sandwich!" Rainbow Dash coughed.

"Or a- Ack! little- piece of- Ack! cake!" Pinkie choked.

Rarity and Shining Armor try to gasp for some air, but they then notice to their shock, that Fluttershy isn't putting much effort. The poor yellow mare Pegasus's tears roll down both her cheeks as her face shows sadness and fear like she woke up from a really bad nightmare.

Seeing the shocked and choking ponies in pain, Zenith angrily looks at Azerrad. "Oi! Let them go!" he shouts.

"That's all up to you." Azerrad replied, "You either let go of my acquaintance there, or you can witness these ponies choke to death, including this little Alicorn."

Shining Armor glares at Azerrad as he smiles gleefully. Zenith desperately ponders on what to do.

* * *

As all of that was going on, back in the cave where a Pegasus stallion and two Alicorns lie on the ground, both mares stir a little bit from the dream they are having. Within the dream, Twilight and Cadance combine their magic with the one the dream is emitting, and try to make themselves wake up. Twilight starts to pant from keeping it up.

"Don't give up!" Cadance yelled, keeping control of her magic, "We must get ourselves to wake up!"

"I'm trying as hard as I can!" Twilight stressed, "But I'm almost at my-"

"Don't think like that!" pleaded Cadance, "Think about your friends and family and everypony you know! For their sakes, you gotta give it everything you've got!"

"Okay, I'll try!" Twilight then grunts more in giving her magic all the energy she can muster, while thinking everypony she knows.

From her parents, to Shining Armor, Cadance, Spike, Princess Celestia, her friends, and everypony up to Starlight Glimmer and her niece Flurry Heart, Twilight thinks of them to give herself assurance that there's no spell that's too difficult for her to break. But for some reason, one silhouette stands out among the others in her mind, one that is a little blurry for her to make out. But Twilight paid no mind to that, "Come on, just one more inch." Twilight grunted.

Even though she's thinking of all the ponies that impacted her life, that silhouette is still there, like it wants to be remembered. At first, Twilight is confused about that silhouette. But, she then thinks that it has something to do with those memories involving that colt. Thus, she starts to think about the colt.

At that moment, the silhouette starts to become clearer. In her mind, Twilight sees that the silhouette is the colt who saved her from long ago. This surprises her a bit, but Twilight keeps her focus. With everypony she knows mind, somehow including that colt, her magic gets stronger.

Then, the aura on Twilight's horn glows pure white with a mix of gold, and it gets brighter every second. Everything in the dream turns white.

In the cave, the two Alicorn's bodies glow white, Twilight's glowing the most out of the two. And then, the magic flows out of them and lashes out at the walls of the cave, and the enchanted bars of the bar door. The bars disappear at the magic's energy, and the magic then flows into the injured Pegasus. Twilight and Cadance then wake up, and see to their surprise and awe that the bar door is gone, and the magic appears to be healing the Pegasus. Eventually, the magic fades away from the three ponies, and the Pegasus stirs and gets up onto his hooves, like he slept well from a nap.

"Flash!" Twilight runs up to the gamboge Pegasus and puts her hoof on his shoulder, "are you alright?"

Flash looks at the right side of his barrel and sees that the slash wound he received disappeared. "Yes, your highness." he grunts, "There's just this throbbing in my head-" He then gasps. "Oh no! The baby Alicorn! I failed to protect it!"

"Calm down, Flash Sentry," Cadance said, "and tell us what happened."

"I was guarding the baby Alicorn that Sir Shining Armor told me to," Flash explained, "then I heard something outside crash into the outside wall. It was a foalish move, but I opened that window to check what it was. I then saw somepony on the wall and tried to alarm everypony, but that pony grabbed me...and injured me and my wings. That's all I can remember. I'm terribly sorry, your highnesses."

"That doesn't matter now." Cadance replied, "But it isn't your fault."

"That's right," Twilight agreed, "Chrysalis and her minions are to blame. Can you fly?"

Flash flaps his wings a bit to check if they're fully healed, and obviously they are. "At first I couldn't, but now I think I can." said Flash, "Thank you for healing me and my wings, your highnesses."

"Uh, that wasn't our magic," said Twilight, "but we'll talk about that later. Right now we got some ponies to save!" Twilight then took off to the air and flew out. Cadance and Flash Sentry followed suit and they flew to the Crystal Empire as fast as they could.

* * *

At that time, in her bedroom at Canterlot, Princess Luna sleeps comfortably in her bed, though what she witnessed of the Mane Six's feelings trouble her a bit. Luna did promise her sister Princess Celestia to discuss this matter with Cadance, unfortunately she didn't get around to that due to her duty of raising the moon for the night. One confusing thought did run through her mind though. Twilight and her five friends felt lonely in a sense of needing somepony to love at the same time. It couldn't be a coincidence for a group of ponies to be thinking the same thing, could it? If it isn't, then could it be a foretelling of something unexpected to come? Luna decided to ask Celestia and Cadance these questions once she has the time.

But then, Luna starts to struggle in her sleep, for her dream suddenly feels...horrifying.

In her dream turned nightmare, Luna sees that most of the houses in Canterlot, in its state one thousand years ago as she remembers it, is on fire. Smoke rose into the air and ash fell to the ground, and mysterious creatures are attacking the buildings and houses, while the ponies flee for their lives. What Luna notices though, is that her coat is in a lighter tone than her new one, and the creatures seem familiar to her. That must mean she must be dreaming of her past, yet she can't seem to recall this part, and for some reason...it feels so real.

"Help!"

A stallion's voice snaps Luna out of her thoughts, and she looks to where the voice came from. She sees the creature about to strike a stallion hanging onto the edge of the cliff. Luna then somehow recognizes the creature and the stallion, yet she couldn't put her hoof on it.

The stallion then looks at Luna, and his eyes widened. "Master! Help!" he cried, "My magic isn't working! I can't hold on much longer! Master Luna, please! Help me!"

Luna is taken aback by how the stallion recognizes her as well, along with him calling her his master. But he is in danger, so Luna puts her thoughts aside and gallops to the creature. Before it can strike the frightened stallion, Luna blasts a magic beam from her horn towards the creature. The beam hits its back, and it sends the creature over the edge. Luna sighed in relief in saving the stallion...

But an unexpected and frightening noise cut through her thoughts like a knife through an apple.

The cliff starts to break apart around the area the stallion is holding onto. He looks up in fear. "Princess Luna! Help! Please, save me!" he called out.

Luna tries to speak, but all that came out of her was silence. In fact, she couldn't move her body at all. She desperately tries to break free of what is holding her place and attempt to save the stallion...

CRACK!

But it is too late.

The cliff cracks, and everything seemed to move slowly around the stallion and Luna. What the princess of the moon saw shocked her. She saw the stallion's face having a mix of fear, shock, and sadness, like he was betrayed. Time then resumed, and the stallion fell down out of Luna's sight, screaming her name.

"LLLLUUUUUUUUUUNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Everything around Luna starts to distort in darkness as the stallion's screams fade out. The darkness closes in on the frightened princess of the moon who struggles to wake herself up. And then...

"VISION!"

Luna sat straight up from her bed, eyes wide open as she woke up, her hoof out in front of her. She breathes hard, still startled by what she saw in her nightmare. Luna then glances at her hoof. "What was that?" she asks herself, "Was that a memory of some sorts? And how do I know that pony...from so long ago? That pony called...Vision?"

Suddenly, Luna gasps, for she senses something evil. She gets out of her bed, goes to her window and opens it, getting a view of the land in the night sky. Luna looks to her left, where she sensed the evil presence. "What's going on?" she wondered out loud, "I sense this presence that I know of...and two others...one that I don't recognize, and the other that seems familiar...yet it seems not."

Luna then glares in determination and flies out of her room. She pauses a bit to look back at the castle of Canterlot. "Forgive me, sister." Luna said, "But there are certain things even you and I can't do. Right now, I must do something that I can do, as a princess of the night." Luna then resumes flying to the north, wondering what is going on and what those living beings she sensed could be.

* * *

At the Crystal Castle, mostly everypony is in a predicament. Shining Armor, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Applejack are suffering from the choking ability of Azerrad, who is holding Flurry Heart with his magic, and Zenith is holding down Chrysalis.

"Tik, tok, pony," Azerrad mockingly says, "we don't have all night. It's either their lives or the little Alicorn's."

Zenith glares at Azerrad while keeping his hard grip on Chrysalis's horn. The Queen of the Changelings did want to blast this pony off of her, but his grip on her horn feels like he could break it off anytime. If there's another thing Chrysalis hates the most, it's being afraid of getting beaten at her own game.

"Hey! What's going on out here?" a voice called out.

Everypony notices that the Crystal Ponies have gathered to see what is happening. Most of them are sleepy, but the others look frightened by what they are seeing. They start to mutter amongst themselves and ask question after question about the situation in panic.

"What?" Azerrad said in shock. "How could this happen? My spell of putting all the Crystal Ponies to sleep was supposed to last the night!"

"That would be me." Zenith stated, grabbing Azerrad's frustrated attention, "I noticed that this land had an unusual magic veil covering it, so I countered it will my own spell as I got here and fought the Changelings off."

Chrysalis growls at the explanation. Even the white stallion and the five mares are in disbelief of what the hooded pony said.

"AZERRAD!"

Everypony looks to the eastern night sky at where the voiced shouted. Three figures fly down to the ground in front of a group of Crystal Ponies, and upon landing, they see Twilight, Cadance and Flash Sentry glaring at Azerrad as he kept his hold on the baby Alicorn and still choking their friends. "You have a lot to answer for your actions!" Twilight yelled.

"There is no place for you to run!" Cadance said angrily. "Let my husband and my friends and my baby go and surrender now while you still can!"

Flash notices that the hooded pony is holding down Chrysalis, and he can't help but wonder why he looks familiar. But he kept his focus on Azerrad, who is pretty ticked off at what is happening.

"I don't think so!" Azerrad yelled back. "Changelings!"

Suddenly, lots of Changelings fly from nowhere into the air, surrounding the ponies. Even some of the Crystal Ponies turned out to be Changelings and surrounded the two Alicorns and Pegasus while the other ponies panicked. Even Shining Armor and Twilight's friends are surprised despite being choked.

"There's no point in struggling, Azerrad!" Twilight said furiously, "Don't make this more worse for yourself!"

Azerrad looks at everypony present, and smirks. "It seems nopony will be budging from this outcome." he says, "Too bad you didn't expect this!"

As he said that, Azerrad's horn glows bright red and what flows out of it and onto his hoof is a magic white blade twice as high as himself surrounded by a red aura. Flash gasps at the sight of it. "Hey!" he says, "That's what he used to injure me!"

Twilight and Cadance look at Flash in shock. "Is that true?" Twilight asks.

"Indeed!" Azerrad answers, getting everypony's attention, "Hope you don't mind if I rush this, because of how pathetic you ponies have shown me to be, you have earned the privilege of seeing this baby Alicorn...BE CUT IN HALF!"

Everypony gasps at what Azerrad said. He then starts to laugh maniacally while wasting no time raising his magic blade to swing it down on the helpless Flurry Heart. Chrysalis growls in anger and desperation to get the hooded pony off of her, but to no avail. But then...

WHOOSH!

A blast of fire strikes Azerrad from behind on his bottom. He yelps from the unexpected pain that he loses control of his magic blade and stumbles forward. Azerrad's aura surrounding the baby fades and the white stallion and the five mares are released from the choking. But everypony had little time to breathe, for the baby is flung a bit into the air, and then falls down, right into somepony's arms. This leaves everypony shocked, and Azerrad gets up from the surprise attack after putting out the flame on his tail.

"Alright, who has the nerve?!" Azerrad yells in anger while turning around.

What everypony sees, is Spike holding Flurry Heart in his arms while breathing hard from his fire breath attack. "I've seen bad guys doing very bad things," Spike growled, "but trying to hurt my friends and a helpless foal takes the cake!"

"No doubt about it!" Starlight agrees, appearing beside Spike.

Twilight, Cadance, Shining Armor and their friends are beside themselves in what happened. "Sweet Celestia!" Rarity exclaimed, "Spikey-wikey has saved the baby Alicorn!"

"That is like, twenty percent awesome!" Rainbow Dash added in.

Azerrad grunts viciously. "Don't think you've won yet!" he shouts. He then lights up his horn and blasts a red aura beam at the dragon and Unicorn, but Starlight lights her horn up in time and generates a mixed turquoise and yellow barrier surrounding her and Spike. The beam is simply absorbed by the barrier, and everypony is shocked at the outcome. "Whew. Nice save, Starlight." Spike commented.

"Likewise." Starlight replied.

"What?" Twilight gasped at the sight of the barrier, "What's with Starlight's barrier spell?"

"Ah think that yellow magic mixed with Starlight's must be Discord's!" Applejack deduced.

"But how?" Shining Armor wondered, "Could Discord really do that?"

Azerrad grits his teeth in furiousness. "Changelings!" he screams, getting the Changelings' attention, "Pound that barrier into oblivion!"

Wasting no time, most of the Changelings start to charge at Starlight's barrier while the others stayed on guard watching the ponies to make sure they don't try anything sneaky. Chrysalis tries again to move the hooded pony off of her, but Zenith tightens his grip on her horn in reflex. Starlight tries to concentrate keeping the barrier up, but the pounding of the Changelings' heads ramming into the barrier start to have her loose her concentration, even the magic she gained from Discord is starting to fade. The barrier then starts to break, alerting her friends.

"Spike! Starlight!" Twilight cried out. "That spell can't take any more hits!"

"My baby!" Cadance yelled out in fear.

"Spikey-wikey!" Rarity called out.

As the Changelings continued to ram their heads at Starlight's barrier, Zenith feels more angry at the sight and is getting more angry every passing second. "Stop it." he muttered.

"You wretched foal! Release me at once!" Chrysalis yelled, trying to nudge from Zenith's grip.

"Stop." Zenith loudly growls.

"You stop sputtering such nonsense and do as I say!" Chrysalis yells again.

"Stop it! Leave them alone!" Zenith cries out, but the Changelings' ramming on the barrier drown his cry out.

Chrysalis growls in anger at the hooded pony's ignoring of her. "Changelings!" she yelled out. "Those of you busy guarding the Crystal Ponies, get this ignorant pony off of-"

CRACK!

A snapping sound echoes throughout the Crystal Empire. Time seems to slow down around everything. Everypony looks to their utmost fear and shock, even the Changelings that stopped ramming Starlight's barrier, at what happened. To Chrysalis's shock, the hooded pony not only got off of her, but snapped off her horn clean off her forehead, leaving a little nudge of where her horn was.

"I SAID STOP IT! THAT'S ENOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGHHHH!"

As Zenith roars in anger, another unique shockwave erupts from him and flows outward in a circle quickly surrounding everypony present. This leads to everypony displaying a face of extreme shock, even the Changelings. A few seconds pass, and then, all of the Changelings lose consciousness from the shockwave and faint to the ground, even Chrysalis herself.

But they weren't the only ones. Most of the Crystal Ponies also faint from the sudden shockwave. Only the Mane Six, Cadance, Shining Armor, Flash, Starlight, and Spike stare at the hooded pony in awe and shock, so much so that they didn't notice the Crystal Ponies fainting.

Even Azerrad is shocked beyond belief.

As he finished his shouting, Zenith noticed that most of the Crystal Ponies and all the Changelings fainted, and everypony else is staring at him wide eyed. He glances at his hoof to see Chrysalis's broken horn, and looks back up, wondering what that shockwave that emitted from nowhere was just now.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	11. Chapter 10

At the cottage near the Everfree Forest, things were starting to lighten down. The animals that reside in the cottage and the ones that ran from the forest are gathered in an open field beside the cottage. Above them floats a creature named Discord, and he is checking that every animal is present, even Fluttershy's pet bunny Angel.

Of course the animals are frightened by the feeling they got some time ago, but since they know that Discord is Fluttershy's friend, they trust him as much as their yellow coated Pegasus caretaker. Discord breathes a sigh of relief of seeing every animal gathered. "Well, that was overwhelming." he says, looking to the animals in front of him, "Now then, I'm sure you are still anxious about what happened, but let me assure you that as Fluttershy's most wonderful and playful friend, nothing very alarming will happen to you on my watch."

The animals look to each other in consideration about Discord's words. "Also," he continued, "until Fluttershy comes back, you all are welcome to keep yourselves company right here. So, keep your heads held high in a courageous manner, and no running off in random directions. Understand?"

The animals nod happily and they start to settle down among themselves. Discord leans to Angel and nudges him with his elbow. "How's that for caretaking expertise?" he grinned. Angel simply rolls his eyes in annoyance.

But then, Discord gasps, for he senses something completely breathtaking. He turns his head to where he sensed it, and couldn't help but wonder what this feeling is. "Goodness." Discord said perplexed, "What is this sensation? It feels intimidating...but at the same time it feels like, that I realized something important, probably more than the grand example of friendship Fluttershy demonstrated to me." He puts his claw and paw together in worry. "I do hope nothing serious happened to her."

* * *

At the Crystal Castle, everypony is in major shock of what they witnessed. The Mane Six, Spike, Starlight Glimmer, Princess Cadance, Shining Armor, Flash Sentry and the Crystal Ponies stare at the hooded pony in shock and awe, while all the Changelings, Chrysalis and most of the Crystal Ponies lie on the ground unconscious. Zenith looks again at the horn in his hoof he snapped off from Queen Chrysalis's forehead, and drops it letting it fall to the ground and the aura emitting from it fades away.

'What was that?' Zenith thought in confusion, 'Where did that shockwave come from? It didn't happen before.' He then looks at Azerrad, the black Unicorn who is starting to get peeved at everything about his plan falling apart.

'Okay. This is getting ridiculous.' Azerrad thinks angrily, 'This plan was going perfectly, but then this pony that has been getting in my way one too many times decides to show up and ruin everything in an instant!' He glares at the hooded pony, 'I don't know what made you come here, but this will not-'

"Azerrad!"

A sudden pain erupts inside Azerrad's head from the noise of the voice, and he recognizes it, "Master? What is it?"

Everypony around Azerrad notices him firmly holding his head with his hoof. Flash looks up to Cadance, "Shall I apprehend that pony, your highness?" he asks.

"Not yet." Cadance replied calmly as she regained her composure, "Looks like somepony's talking to that Unicorn."

"But shouldn't we put him under arrest now before he does something else that will endanger everypony here?" Twilight questions the princess of love.

"There is something he's hiding." Cadance looks at Azerrad in a serious manner, "And whatever his reason is for trying to steal my daughter, we should hear it out."

"Your plan has failed, my apprentice." the voice boomed in Azerrad's head.

"Master, please!" Azerrad says in desperation, "It wasn't my fault! That pony with the-"

"SILENCE!" the voice shouted.

"Is that meany, nasty, jerky Unicorn talking to himself?" Pinkie wondered.

"No, somepony's speaking to him telepathically." Shining Armor replied, trying to recollect himself.

"We will talk about your punishment later." the voice said, "You must retreat with Chrysalis and the Changelings and regroup. You won't be able to fight your way out of this predicament, not even against the Princess of the Moon who is on her way."

"What?" Azerrad looks to the sky, the others following suit wondering what he's looking at, until they see it.

"Look!" a Crystal stallion says, pointing to the sky, "It's Princess Luna!"

Everypony sees the dark blue Alicorn flying down from the night sky and lands in front of Shining Armor and Twilight's friends. "Fear no longer, Crystal Ponies!" Luna says firmly, "Whatever threatens you will seek punishment by my hoof! Now, who is the one that dares to lay harm on you all?"

"It's that Unicorn called Azerrad!" Rainbow Dash pointed to the black Unicorn.

"There is little time to be frustrated," the voice rang out in Azerrad's head once more, "retreat and regroup now."

"Be still, evildoer!" Luna stepped forward to the black Unicorn. "You have a lot of explaining to do for your actions."

When Azerrad turned his head to look at Luna, her eyes widen in surprise, for she sees that under his left closed eye is an X-shaped scar, one that she recalls seeing some time ago, but when?

"But, master," Azerrad says, "just give me-"

"That is an order!" the voice yelled, "Retreat and regroup! NOW!"

Azerrad grunts in defeat and frustration, and lights up his horn in a red aura. That aura appears on all the Changelings present and Chrysalis, and in a split second, they disappear in a flash. Everypony is alerted to this, and see that Azerrad is surrounding himself in the aura.

"Hold it!" Flash shouted, galloping at Azerrad.

"Wait! Flash!" Twilight says.

But Azerrad disappears before Flash could get near.

"Nuts! He got away!" Flash grunts in frustration.

Then, Azerrad's evil chuckle is heard throughout the Crystal Empire. "You may have won this round, ponies!" his voice rang out, "But don't get too comfortable! You think the lives you live will always be happy and joyful? Well, it won't!"

"Azerrad! Don't you hide from us, scaredy cat!" Rainbow Dash called out, "Show yourself!"

"What happened tonight," Azerrad continued, "is simply a mere fraction of what will befall Equestria and the whole world, one where you will soon realize you cannot prevent no matter how much effort you put into it! The Darkness will see to that!"

"Darkness?" Luna wonders.

"We will meet again, ponies!" Azerrad's voice started to get faint as he spoke, "Including you, the pony with THAT cutie mark!" He then laughs until his voice ceased its echoing.

Everything is silent for a moment, with everypony looking at each other in confusion and fear of what transpired.

"Flurry Heart!" Cadance ran up to Spike who is holding the sleeping baby Alicorn in his arm. "My baby! Is she alright?"

Spike looks down at the peaceful sleeping face of the baby Alicorn. "Flurry Heart? That's her name?" Spike wonders, "Ah, yes, yes she is. Sleeping the night away safe and sound." He raises Flurry Heart to Cadance who takes her in her foreleg. The sight of the baby Alicorn smiling while sleeping brings a tearful and relieving smile to Cadance. Shining Armor and Twilight steps up to Cadance's side.

"And we all have you to thank, Spike." Shining Armor smiled at the purple dragon. "You bravely assaulted that pony who held our daughter captive and saved her. I doubt anypony I know will be as brave as you." He patted Spike's head with his hoof, who blushes at the notion.

"Aw, it was nothing." Spike sheepishly said, "it was just all in a, night's work."

"Let's not forget this pony here." Cadance looks to Starlight. "What is your name?"

"Starlight Glimmer," she replied, "a student of Princess Twilight."

"Well, Starlight, no debt would be any higher for what you did for us and our daughter." Cadance bowed to the blushing heliotrope Unicorn.

"You did great tonight, Starlight." Twilight happily put her hoof on Starlight's shoulder, "And I deeply thank you for protecting my niece and my assistant. Though I should ask, how was that barrier spell you casted able to withstand those blows?"

"You can thank Discord for that." Starlight replied.

Luna steps forward which grabs everypony's attention. "You both, Spike and Starlight, have done the most wonderful thing for the Crystal Empire. You have ensured our victory in this battle." She then looks sad and turns her head to her left, "But, certain costs that would have been avoided have been paid."

They look to see Twilight's friends tending to Fluttershy, who is lying on the ground covering her eyes and crying silently. Concerned, Twilight, Spike and Starlight run up to their friends. "What's wrong with Fluttershy?" Starlight asks.

"Its dreadful." Rarity said, "While we were trying to resist being choked by that Azerrad brute, poor Fluttershy didn't put up much resistance."

"Seems what happened ta us left a major impact on Fluttershy like one a' them zap apples losin' the chance to get ripe." Applejack added in.

"And she won't snap out of it no matter how much we tell her that everything will be alright." said Rainbow Dash.

"Not to mention telling her that she'll be right as rain during our victory party." Pinkie sadly says.

Spike gets close to Fluttershy and softly pets her head. "Fluttershy?"

The yellow Pegasus looks up, and her eyes are nearly red from crying. "Why?...Why did that cruel pony did what he did, to them and us?"

"Stuff like that happens all the time." Twilight said in a reassuring manner. "And we always bounce back onto our hooves, be it in small or large amounts of time."

"I can relate with that." Pinkie said cheerfully, but cleared her throat as her friends give that look on her.

"That may be easy for all of you," Fluttershy sniffed, "but I don't think I will ever get over it, not when what happened tonight is so large compared to what we've been through." Fluttershy then breaks down silently sobbing.

"Well, look on the bright side, darling," Rarity put her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder to comfort her, "if it wasn't for that mysterious, and handsome, stallion in the white hood, we would be-" Rarity looks to where the hooded pony was standing, only to see that he is gone. "What? Where did he go?"

Everypony looks around them to see where the hooded pony ran off to, but to no avail. "I didn't notice him leaving." Rainbow Dash said.

"Me neither." Shining Armor looks around, "I wanted to thank him too for saving me and Twily's friends."

"Questionable as it may be," Luna declared, "We must save it for another day. It has been a very long night for all of us, and we best get some sleep to be up and bright for dawn."

"I dunno." Spike said, a little concerned, "After what happened tonight, most of us might not sleep as much as we used to." Everypony looks to each other, most of them nodding in agreement.

"Still, a good night's rest is important for everypony." the princess of the night said. She is about to take flight, until she remembered something. "Cadance? A word, if you please?"

Cadance walks up close to Luna, "What is it?"

Luna leans in to Cadance's ear. "My sister requests of us both to meet with her in private and discuss something important." she whispers, "It involves what I discovered about Twilight and her friends before tonight's events transpired."

Cadance is surprised about what she's been told, but remains calm. "Alright." she says, "I'll meet up with you while I can."

"See that you do post haste." Luna replies, and she takes flight. "Fare thee well, little ponies! And good night to you all!" She then flies off to the night sky.

"Okay then." Shining Armor then turns to the Crystal Ponies, "Citizens! Whatever happened here is now over. Please return to your homes and bring the fainted ponies with you. I assure you that everything will be fine."

The Crystal Ponies comply with the order and picked up the fainted ponies to their homes, and Flash Sentry goes to look for the royal guards. As they do that, Twilight's friends help Fluttershy up who ceased her tears but still sobs, and bring her back into the Crystal Castle. Spike and Starlight walk beside Twilight into the castle. "Say, Twilight, who was that pony in the white hood that was on top of Chrysalis?" Spike asks.

"I don't have a clue." Twilight answers, "But, now that I think about it...something about him feels...familiar. I just can't put my hoof on it."

"Well, it is sad we didn't get to thank him," Starlight says, "But maybe we'll get to see him again."

"I hope you're right." Twilight replies uneasily. "Though, that Azerrad jerk referred to him as 'the pony with that cutie mark', like he knows him. I wonder what he meant by that?"

"I'm sure we'll find out soon," Spike yawned a bit, "But for now, we should get plenty of sleep like Luna suggested. I...would like...to celebrate that...party...once Fluttershy...is...feeling..."

Spike then falls to sleep and falls to the floor, but Twilight catches him with her magic while grinning to herself and puts Spike on her back. Starlight giggles a bit, "He's certainly one thoughtful little dragon."

"Yes, he's sure come a long way." Twilight says, "If I hadn't been sent to Ponyville by Princess Celestia to make some friends, Spike would've been any less different of himself up to now."

"It is definitely wonderful to have friends." Starlight comments.

"You know it." replied Twilight.

Both ponies laugh a little as Spike snores adorably. The night was eventful for all of them, but everything worked out in the end. Little do they know, nor do they fail to realize, that what happened tonight won't stop here.

* * *

Inside the large cave, the Changelings are tending to themselves while a large pony covered in a thick black fog sits on a throne waiting. Then, there was a flash of red light, and Azerrad appears with the unconscious Chrysalis and the other half of the Changeling group. "Retreated and regrouped as ordered, Lord Dark Shadow." Azerrad knelt to the large pony.

Dark Shadow rises up from the throne. "I wonder about that." he growls menacingly.

Azerrad looks up in confusion, "But, master, didn't I do as you ordered?"

"You did," Dark Shadow replied, "But you revealed a bit too much about who I am to the ponies."

Azerrad went wide eyed. "But, but master!" he sputtered.

Dark Shadow's horn lights up in a red aura, and lightning surrounded by the same aura erupts from his horn, right towards Azerrad. It shocks the black Unicorn who screams in pain. The Changelings back away in fear of what they see.

"Master! Please! Forgive me!" Azerrad screams as the lightning painfully travels through his body, "I'll do better next time! Just give me another chance!"

Dark Shadow ceases his spell, and Azerrad nearly collapses to the ground panting. "Dearest Azerrad," he calmly says, "You have been a very faithful apprentice, one I am proud to teach what I know. But since you failed this task by a wide margin, I'm giving you a timeout so you can think about what you've done."

"But master, please let me explain!" Azerrad desperately pants, "It is true me and Chrysalis were caught up in mocking the ponies for their worthlessness, but," he catches his breath and tries to stand up, "but that pony thwarted our plan to capture the baby Alicorn! The pony with THAT cutie mark!"

Dark Shadow's mouth opens in surprise, "Is this true?"

"He was disguising himself," Azerrad explains, "but his power is like how I sensed it last time, but this time he is more powerful than before."

"Hmm." Dark Shadow ponders on this, "that is troubling. He and his companions have gotten in our way recently. If he's here in Equestria, things will be difficult." He looks back at Azerrad. "Still, your punishment remains intact. In your timeout you will think about what you've done, and train every bit of yourself down to your little bones."

"Yes, master." Azerrad bows.

"But you won't be alone. HE will be there to supervise you." Dark Shadow added in.

"What?" Azerrad is taken aback by this, "That tall and emotionless sadist? But master, he is aggravating beyond insane! And his partner, the thin and annoying psycho is just so crazy."

"Even so, they are essential to my plan of world domination." Dark Shadow said, "Go now. Do as you are told."

Azerrad reluctantly bows, "As you wish, my master." He then leaves to the far right side of the cave. Dark Shadow then sees that most of the Changelings have gathered around Chrysalis and sadly nuzzle her. He notices that her horn is snapped clean off her forehead.

"So, he has decided to put himself on the playing board again." Dark Shadow says to himself. "And to show how powerful he is by bringing down a piece of mine is most troubling." he then slowly smiles wickedly, "No matter. I have plenty of strategies to put forth into motion. While Vohrnil watches over Azerrad's training, I will have Ryzoth recruit more pieces into the game. Only then will the time come to put Celestia and her ponies in...checkmate." Dark Shadow chuckles to himself.

* * *

Far out west of the Crystal Empire is a bay beside an ocean where to the right is the snowy mountains, and to the left is a forest. Then, the white hooded pony emerges onto the shore of the bay and removes his hood. Zenith breathes in the cool air and smiles softly. He then trots down the shore and sees a large shadowed ship of some sort docked on the beach. Zenith sees five ponies nearby the ship, and one of them is in clear view.

It is a little colt, who has an ubuntu red coat and a blue gem coloured mane and tail. But what is really astonishing about him is that his dark cobalt blue eyes seem to be like a dragon's eyes, his muzzle and ears are dark persian blue which mix into his coat in a gradient manner, and the underside of his barrel up to his neck is like a dragon's belly and is coloured pure white. In place of his hooves is dragon like arms going up to his knees and his claws are white like his barrel. And, instead of Pegasus like wings, on his back is dragon's wings as large as his head, with the insides coloured the same as his muzzle and ears. Even though the colt is a pony, it seems plenty of dragon traits are visible on him.

The colt notices Zenith coming towards him and the figures behind him. His eyes widen and he smiles eagerly. The colt runs to the white cloaked pony. "Zenith!" the colt calls out in his cheerful voice. He jumps up into Zenith's open forelegs and hugs him, which Zenith sweetly accepts. "Zenith," the colt says, sniffing a bit, "I've waited so long to see you again."

"Hey, Meteo." Zenith ruffled the colt's mane. "You've been a good boy?"

Meteo gets off of Zenith and salutes, "Yes, sir! Been a good boy and had no troubles, sir!"

A large pony in the shadow of the ship steps forward and speaks in a nearly fruity voice, "Well, aside from throwing the cider overboard to quell the big fish's thirst."

"Aw, Pebble," Meteo turned to the large pony, "Why'd you bring that up? How else was I supposed to distract that big fish from attacking our boat?"

A thin pony who is wearing a hat and vest tilts his hat and speaks in a matter-of-fact voice, "We had some minor troubles, but we got them solved lickety split. Anyway, it is good to see you again, Zenith."

"Likewise, Chester." Zenith replies to the hat wearing pony.

An average toned pony with a somewhat wet mane steps forward and asks in a soft and silvery voice, "Um, how do you like Equestria so far, Zenith?"

"It seems mostly everything has changed since I left it, Tranquil." said Zenith, then he looks down with his eyebrows narrowed, "Though, I doubt that 'some' things about it could've changed."

The ponies stayed silent, for they seem to know what Zenith is thinking about. Then, a muscular toned winged pony speaks in a confident and carefree voice, "Aw, don't beat yourself up over those things, mate. Maybe those things can change, and you can count on me to help you with that."

"Thanks, Ace." Zenith says smiling.

"So, Zenith," Meteo looks up to Zenith, "did you meet that 'special somepony' that you know from long ago at that fancy capital of Equestria?"

Zenith's cheeks turn a bit pink and his ears droop a bit, "Well, yes and no."

"Care to be specific on that phrase?" Chester asks.

"What I mean is," Zenith explains, blushing a bit, "Is that yes, I managed to meet 'her.' And no, we didn't converse because of what happened recently."

"What sort of what happened?" Pebble wondered.

Zenith took a sad sigh, making Meteo concerned. "Zenith?" He looks up to the silver coated pony.

"A pony, tried to ponynap a little foal born to a royal family," Zenith says, then he looks up with an angry look on his face, "The pony we know all too well named...Azerrad."

Meteo and the ponies gasp at the name. "Lóng de línpiàn!" Tranquil exclaims.

"Billions of blue blistering barnacles!" Pebble stomped his hoof down onto the sand in anger, "That wretched, scurvy, pillaging, son of a biscuit eater! If we ever cross paths with him again I'll make that smug landlubber Unicorn walk the plank!"

"At ease!" Zenith says holding his hoof up. "I managed to stop him, but something happened when I used...'it'."

The ponies are alerted to that sentence. "Crikey!" Ace exclaims, "As in, that 'it' that we all used once together on that tyrant from that country?"

"Yeah, but it was different." Zenith said, "At first I couldn't figure it out, but now I do." Zenith then yawns. "But, right now I feel tired. I promise I'll tell you all about it in the morning once we get some sleep. But first we gotta get the ship out of sight. Set course to that island south-west of here!" Zenith points over the ocean with his hoof. "We'll camp there for tonight!"

"Aye-aye, Captain!" Pebble saluted, then turned to the other ponies, "Ye heard him, lads! All hooves on deck!"

"Right-o, mate!" Ace flies to the ship and Tranquil, Chester, Pebble, Meteo and Zenith follow suit onto the plank of the ship. Then, the plank is pulled over the deck. Pebble's orders are heard on the ship. "Ace, loosen the sails! Tranquil, hoist anchor! Chester, prepare the gem engines for immediate take off! Meteo, engage the gravity generator!"

Then, the ship starts to float slowly into the air, and it turns until it is in the direction of its course. The large sail on the single mast glows in a silver aura. Zenith stands near the front of the deck, looking out to the sea. 'Twilight,' he thought, 'I doubt you may remember me, but I promise you, we will meet again.'

Sounds of engines erupt from behind the ship. "Gem engines stabilized and ready for travel, Captain!" Pebble's voice calls out.

"Good!" Zenith replies, "On my mark!" He raises his hoof into the air, and after a few seconds, he quickly points to the horizon. "Onward!"

Then, the ship blasts forward into the sky as the engines leave behind a bright yet faint trail of magic dust clouds, which disappear into the air. The ship sails through the night covered sky as Zenith looks to his left to see Equestria getting further away from sight. A sad look crosses over his face, but Zenith then glares in determination and looks ahead to the destination. One part of his journey ended, but another will soon begin.

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

 **This concludes the first arc of this story. Hope you enjoyed it so far. I may be on and off of writing future chapters, but I'll keep at it no matter how long it takes.**

 **Also featuring Meteo, an OC by deviantART member Heftymatt, re-imagined as a pony.**


	12. Chapter 11

The night goes by throughout Equestria. Everypony sleeps in peace, dreaming wonderful things. Well, almost everypony.

The citizens of the Crystal Empire got a majorly unexpected early wake up call, for the Queen of the Changelings, Chrysalis and her acquaintance Azerrad attempted to ponynap the first born Alicorn foal. But the efforts of the Mane Six, their friends and the white hooded pony stopped them, at the cost of one of their friends being impacted by the events that transpired.

They return to sleep while the hooded pony somehow left without a trace. Even though the ponies got through that kind of event like they did many times in the past, they fail to realize that it is far from done.

Yes, very far from done.

* * *

Princess Celestia stands on a balcony of Canterlot's castle as she uses her magic to raise the sun into the eastern morning sky. Once the sun is high enough, Celestia releases it from her magic and sighs in satisfied manner. But, her face then shows concern, for that presence she has sensed is still out there. And, what her sister Luna told her about the Mane Six last night troubles her slightly. It seems to her that it is one of the signs of something grand to happen, but what?

The princess of the sun hears a yawn, and she turns around to see her sister smiling at her. "Good morning, sister," Luna said, "Splendid rising of the sun as always."

"Thank you, Luna, and good morning to you too." Celestia replied, "What brings you here at this hour?"

"Do you remember our talk last night?" asked Luna, "About the Mane Six longing for love?"

Celestia's mood softens a bit from hearing that. "Yes, I do." she said, "I did tell you to bring this matter up with Cadance, did I not?"

"Of course." Luna said nervously, "Though I told her that you expected me and her to meet up with you when she has the time to discuss what I discovered. Is that alright?"

Celestia looks at Luna, who face shows a bit of guilt and approval. "I suppose it is alright with me," the princess of the sun says, "But tell me, is there something else you would like to discuss with me?"

Luna could see in her sister's eyes that Celestia expects the truth to be heard, whether she wants or needs to hear it or not. Luna sighs, "Yes. I just hope you intend to hear me out and forgive me in the end."

"Go on." Celestia raises her eyebrow in suspicion.

"Last night, I sensed something very wrong at the Crystal Empire," Luna explained, being wary of her sister's watchful eyes, "It started to get worse, so I had no choice but to not inform you of it and fly all the way over there in time to get to the bottom of it." Luna paused and expected Celestia to interrupt, but she didn't, so Luna continued, "As I got there, a pony I never saw before tried to do something very bad...and Chrysalis was with him."

Celestia gasped, "Chrysalis? What was she and this pony trying to do?"

"They...tried to steal the Alicorn foal." Luna answered.

Celestia's eyes widened. "What?!"

"But it seemed that somepony stopped them from doing so." Luna quickly said, "And Spike and Starlight aided in the rescue of the foal."

"Oh, well that's great to hear." Celestia sighed in relief, "But there's one question; why didn't I sense what you sensed and aided you?"

"As I said, I had no choice and little time to inform you of the matter," Luna responded, "Though I am curious. You didn't sense what was happening at the Crystal Empire in your dreams?"

Celestia ponders on that question. "Now that you mention it," she says, "I didn't."

Luna's eyes widened in shock, "What? But, normally we both sense at the same time that something is wrong! How could this happen?"

"I'm not sure," Celestia replies, "But we should keep this matter between us until we decide to tell Twilight and the others about it, lest we distract them with concerning problems."

Luna reluctantly nods, "Alright. Just remember to decide to tell me and them about what you know."

"I will. That's a promise." Celestia then walks through the door as Luna follows from behind. As she does, Luna could see that her sister is troubled deeply about something, but she intends to give her time to come to terms with it and reveal everything when the time comes.

* * *

On an island, not too far from Equestria, is a mysterious ship docked at the island's beach. In one of the quarterdeck cabins, on an average sized bed near a window lies a sleeping pony stallion with a silver coat and a spiky dark purple mane named Zenith. He had a long night of enough drama and excitement, so he continues to sleep even as the sun came up.

But then, Zenith's closed eyes squint in pain, and his breathing gets quicker, for his dream seems to be taking a turn for the worse. Within his mind, various visions of his most terrible moments in his childhood life flash through his nightmare. As it got to the point where a vision of his young self falls down and somepony from above yells his name in fear shock, Zenith lets out a scream. Then, a colt's voice shouts from somewhere.

"WAAAAAAKE UUUPP!"

BONK!

"AH!" Zenith yelped from the unexpected pain in his head and immediately woke up while rising from his bed. "Ow..." He groaned while firmly holding the spot on his head where the pain was inflicted with his hooves. Zenith then notices a colt who has dragon traits visible in his eyes and on his body, and he is holding a wooden toy sword in his hoof.

"Meteo?" Zenith rubbed his head to ease the pain, "What just happened?"

"What happened is," Meteo said, "you had that dream again. The rest of us heard you scream and I did the usual thing you told me to do in case 'that' happened."

"Oh yeah, you did. And I appreciate it." Zenith then adjusted his thin purple scarf with silver linings and golden ends around his neck.

"And I didn't mess up that scarf, if you're wondering." Meteo quickly said in worry.

"Nah. Its fine." Zenith replied, getting off of his bed and putting a bathroom robe over his back, "It's one of the few good things from my young days that I got left."

"Yeah, you did say that." said the grinning dragon colt as he walks to the door.

"So, what's for breakfast?" Zenith asks.

"Cornmeal waffles with Oaxaca verde," Meteo answered as he put the toy sword in a barrel beside the door, "and Dahlia petals on the side. Chester's treat."

"Sweet! I'll be there in a jiffy." Zenith walks to the bathroom to prep himself up, and as he enters it, the dragon colt looks on in concern. But he shrugs it off, and Meteo smiles knowing that everything will be fine, and he exits the cabin.

Now, the ship is unique in a similar yet mysterious manner. It is long and wide enough to have at least a dozen ponies on deck. Its hull is coloured dark purple, and the wooden parts of the ship are beige coloured while the railings are coloured white. It has three decks consisting of a quarterdeck, main deck and forecastle deck, with two sets of stairs connecting them at the sides. Unlike the quarterdeck and forecastle deck which its floors are made of wood, the main deck has a lawn of grass, a very unusual sight.

The bowsprit is half the length of the forecastle deck, and right underneath it attached to the stem is a brown wooden statue of a pony stallion with a horn on its head and wings behind its back. It is depicted to be floating in the air and having a look of determination on its face, like it is looking forward to the future with no doubt whatsoever.

The main mast has two rope ladders tied from the back of the main deck railings up to the edge of the brown crow's nest on top of it, and in the middle of the nest is a pole with a flag tied securely on it. The flag has a silver background with a golden trim around the edges, and a lilac coloured silhouette of a pony is depicted as galloping to the right side of the flag.

But what makes the ship really stand out is its three sails. Instead of being near the top under the crow's nest, the yard pole is near the bottom of the mast, nearly at parallel with the main boom pole behind it. The spanker sail is secured on the main boom pole and the main sail is secured to the front of the mast. The jib sail is tied along the rope connecting the crow's nest to the bowsprit while its corner is tied to the left side of the railing.

Those sails are not like the ones you are familiar with from way back then. They are a little translucent, and on them are layers after layers of nudges like dragon scales, and they glisten ever so beautifully in the sunlight.

But the explanation of this ship has one more thing to cover. Behind the ship there is not one, but three rudders, and on the left and right sides of them is two mysterious mechanical engines attached to the bottom of the quarterdeck area near the top of the rudders with a pipe connecting each of them to the ship wall.

Yes, the ship is unique in its own way. The outside of the ship has some wonderful things to show, but the wonders inside the ship will be revealed in due time.

As Meteo gets to the main deck, a tall and built up Unicorn stallion approaches him. His flame style-standing on end mane and small tail are red with a large pink streak in the front of his mane and a little pink tip on his tail. He has a buff coloured coat while his hooves are a saddle brown color, and his eyes are an unusual shade of pink. He has a cutie mark of a fuchsia balloon with its purple string tied around a gray stone. His main features are his sideburns going down to the end of his cheeks and a little patch of red hair on his chin, and he is wearing a piece of gray cloth around his head and horn securing up his mane. "Hey, Meteo," he said in concern, "Is Captain Zenith alright?"

"Right as rain, Pebble," replied Meteo, "I took care of it, and we're in the clear."

"Well that's a thundering typhoons relief," Pebble wiped his head with his hoof, "his screaming just now was mighty louder than last time."

"Don't worry. Zenith is over it." Meteo said, simpering a bit.

Then, an average sized and nearly built Pegasus stallion flies down from the crow's nest and lands nearby Meteo and Pebble. His little messy mane and ruffled tail are a zaffre color with a vivid azure streak on top of them, his coat is pure sapphire, his hooves are powder blue, and his eyes are royal blue. He is wearing teal leg bands on each of his legs, and his cutie mark is a powder blue cloud with a zaffre coloured spades symbol. "G' morning, mates. Is Zenith okay?" the sapphire Pegasus asks.

"He's doing fine, Ace. Got it all wrapped up." Meteo assured the Pegasus.

"Sounds fair dinkum." smiled Ace, "Is breakfast done yet? I'm nearly starving."

Then, a wave of good smelling food flows in the air across the deck. Meteo, Ace, and Pebble smell it and feel like they're in heaven. "Smells like it's done," Pebble said, "and blistering barnacles does it smell good!"

"Come and get it!" a voice called out from the beach.

"We're a coming!" Ace responded as he flew to the voice's location, and Meteo and Pebble jump off the side of the ship and land on the beach with no difficulty.

Nearby the ship is two more ponies, an Earth pony and a Unicorn, standing around basic kitchen utilities laid out on an area of the beach as they help each other make breakfast. The Earth pony has coral coloured eyes, a hazel coat and a well combed deep chestnut mane and tail with lots of tomato streaks going down and out. He is wearing a fulvous coloured hat, an orange vest and a yellow watch on his left wrist. On his flanks is a cutie mark of a drum having the same color as his coat, mane and tail, and having a chestnut on it while a red apple with a leaf on its stem appears to be beating on the drum.

He takes a dish of two waffles covered in melted cheese and some flower petals on the side with his hoof. "I got this plate for the captain, Tranquil," he told the Unicorn behind him, "you get the others."

"I'd be honoured, Chester," the Unicorn replied, lighting up his horn in a teal aura to levitate the five same dishes Chester is holding. The Unicorn stallion has teal eyes, a misty jade coat and an emerald mane and tail that looks to be half wet and half groomed in a beautiful manner. His cutie mark consists of a blue and cyan water wave symbol and a jade dolphin with little yellow features in front of it. This Unicorn's main feature is his whole muzzle up to the base of his eyes is also emerald colored.

"Of course I am utterly concerned about the captain's recent nightmarish scream." Tranquil wondered in worry.

"No worries, mate!" Ace said, landing near Chester and Tranquil as Meteo and Pebble walk up to them, "Zenith's mind is as clean as a whistle. Courtesy of his colt partner."

"Good to hear." said Chester, "Pebble, a table please."

"Will do!" Pebble eagerly put his hoof into his mane and took out a light brown stone oddly shaped like a balloon, "Alright, Stony, time again for your transformation."

Pebble's horn then lights up in a pink aura and he levitates his stone. He closes his eyes in concentration, and then,

POOF!

The stone is transformed into a circular table with round seats from under it. "There ye go, lads!" Pebble announced.

"Thanks, Pebble!" Meteo replied as he sat down at the stone table. Tranquil laid the dishes on the table in front of the colt and the other stallions while they took their seats.

"Crew! Report!"

They get startled by the sudden command and quickly stood up, turning to the voice while saluting, and Meteo, Ace, Pebble, Chester and Tranquil said their full names in the following order.

"Meteo the Longma!"

"Ace Nimbus!"

"Púróg Port!"

"Castaña El Manzana!"

"Níngjìng Bō!"

But they notice that Zenith is chuckling while he is wearing his thin scarf and a lilac coloured robe. "At ease," the silver Earth pony said, "just a little check up on my friends."

Most of Zenith's friends rolled their eyes in amusement. As Zenith seated himself, Chester laid the breakfast dish in front of him. "Here you are, señor," the hazel earth pony declared, "cornmeal waffles with hot melted Oaxaca verde, and a side helping of Dahlia petals."

"Thanks, Chester." Zenith then picks up a fork and knife with his hooves, a very odd sight to see, and he cuts a piece of the waffle covered in the melted cheese. He brings it up to his face.

"¡Hola, señor waffle!" Zenith says dramatically, and he smells it, "This smells wonderful. What a grand aroma. Smells like a sugar toast made from wheat. And without further ado!"

Zenith puts the piece of waffle into his mouth and slides the fork out from there. As he chews, his friends look on in mostly happiness and amusement. Zenith swallows, and after a second or two...

"AH! Mmmm! This is certainly wonderful!" Zenith chimed happily, "¡Delicioso! 'Tis one of the many wonders of the world!" He chuckles to himself until he notices his friends looking at him with grins and raised eyebrows in a playful manner. "What?" Zenith said, "I'm simply expressing how this dish is delightful."

"And I appreciate it wholeheartedly, señor," Chester replied, "as the rest of us do."

"Darn right, mate!" Ace added in, "If it weren't for you, we'd be depressed out of our flanks instead of giving it a burl!"

"Indeed." said Tranquil, "So, would you care to enlighten us on last night's endeavours?"

Zenith just swallowed a petal and noticed the interested looks on his friends' faces. "I don't know..." he said doubtfully.

"Ah, come on, lad!" Pebble insisted, "I wanna hear how ye battled that Azerrad scallywag!"

"Yeah, come on! I'm getting jumpy wanting to know it all!" Meteo eagerly scooted up to Zenith's side.

The silver Earth pony could see that his friends aren't intending to leave him be until the story is heard loud and clear, so Zenith sighs in an amusing manner. "Fine. I guess I'll have to tell you guys all about it to get it off my barrel." Zenith then starts to explain what happened last night as his friends listen on in anticipation, "It all started when I got to Equestria by going through, 'that country', that is beside it. As I got there, I intended to do something special my late Granny had always wanted..."

* * *

Meanwhile, in one of the bedrooms of the Crystal Empire, Spike sleeps soundly in his little bed. Despite what happened last night, the little dragon paid no heed to the negative aspects of the event and dreamed his usual dreams.

The sun's rays then enter through a window, and it lands on Spikes head. Feeling this warm feeling of the sun, Spike slowly awakes and yawns. He stretches himself as he got out of his bed.

"Whew! What a night," Spike said as he stretches, "We sure showed that jerk who's in charge, right, Twilight?" He turns around, only to see the nearby bigger bed devoid of anypony. "Twilight?"

Spike then notices a note laid on the blanket, and he walks to it. He picks it up and reads it.

"Dear Great and Honourable Spike the Great and Glorious," the little dragon declared as he usually does when he reads a letter, though he pauses to chuckle at his epithet and continues, "In honour of saving Flurry Heart, the baby Alicorn, a surprise is prepared for you. It will be right outside the Crystal Castle where last night's events happened. Better spruce yourself up quick, wouldn't want your favourite treat to dry up. Sincerely, Princess Cadance."

Spike lowers the note as his eyes widen in wonder. "A surprise?" he asks himself, "After all that happened last night they went and prepared a surprise...for me?"

The little dragon looks to a clock on the dresser beside the bed, and it reads nearly five to eight thirty. "By the royal sisters!" Spike exclaimed, "I hope they haven't been waiting too long! It is rude to keep a mare waiting, especially...Rarity." Spike daydreams a bit about the white unicorn he came to adore.

But then, he then thinks about the dream where it showed her and their friends in danger. The thought of not being able to save Rarity slowly crept through Spike's mind in an uneasy manner. But he shook his head. "Enough dilly dallying!" he said out loud, "Got to see what sort of surprise they whipped up for me! But first, better get through my morning routine, and fast!"

With that, Spike rushed to the bathroom, took a few minutes to brush his teeth and wash his scaly face and claws, and rushed out again towards the bedroom door. He glanced at the clock, and it shows a minute to eight thirty. Panicking in a comical manner, Spike ran out of the bedroom and down the hall to the stairs. Since he accompanied Twilight on some errands inside the Crystal Castle, Spike learned the inside out of the place and knew exactly where to go. The exit is no exception.

As he got to the door, Spike skidded to a halt and tried to catch his breath from all the running. Then, he put his claw onto the doorknob and is about to turn it...

When a sudden and confusing thought ran through the little dragon's mind.

'That's weird.' Spike thought in concern, 'I usually get excited about receiving surprises and pretend to expect it when they shout surprise, but now...for some reason I'm looking forward to being praised for whatever I did with my friends instead of wondering what they'll give me.'

Spike's hold on the doorknob softens a bit. 'Sure my first birthday in Ponyville didn't go that well, and I still blame myself for it, but everypony else who knew about it put it behind them.'

He shakes his head. 'Never mind that,' Spike turns the doorknob and opens the door slowly. 'Wouldn't want to keep them waiting.'

Spike at first has the door open no more than a hoof's width of space, then he quickly moves it fully open. As Spike then looked in front of him...

"SURPRISE!"

He is startled by the sudden cry of every Crystal Pony as lots of confetti blew out from nowhere. To his awe and surprise, Spike sees plenty of tables having lots of food laid out on all of them, and colourful streamers are attached to the light posts. What caught Spike's attention is the banner saying 'You are our hero, Spike!' held up by two light posts on each side of the crystal road.

As the Crystal Ponies happily cheered and praised Spike, he sees his friends smiling ever so sweetly at him, which he responds in kind. All of this shown to him brings a choked up feeling in his heart, like he did another grand thing for everypony without taking notice of it. If that's not what could make Spike really happy, he nor anyone else would know what will.

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

 **This chapter begins the second arc of this story. Sorry to make you wait this long. I got stuck plenty of times, but I got through to the end.**

 **If you'd like a clear look at the debuting characters appearances, I'll make vectors of them on my deviantART account which you will find through my same username as my Fanfiction one. Enjoy! :)**


	13. Chapter 12

"Surprise!" Pinkie Pie yelled cheerfully as she popped out of nowhere in front of Spike. Again the little dragon is startled by the pink pony's sudden entrance, but he regains his composure.

"I suggested we threw this 'Spike and Starlight saved the baby Alicorn and put the Changelings and meany stallion in their place' victory party for you and Starlight!" Pinkie explained happily as she bounced around and about where Spike is standing, "Were you surprised? Were ya? Were ya? Huh huh huh?"

"Surprised beyond belief!" Spike responded enthusiastically, "But when and how did you set all of this up?"

"Simple! As I woke up I couldn't help but think about giving you thanks for what you and Starlight did last night!" Pinkie said as her friends gathered in front of her and Spike, "So after some thinking I went-" Pinkie made a somewhat realistic deep gasp, "-I gotta get my friends together and plan this surprise victory party for you and Starlight! I told them the idea and they agreed with it! So, we asked the Crystal Ponies to help set up this party, and we helped too! Now this party is the best of many parties because you saved the Crystal Empire the third time in the most sweetest and awesome way ever! And with Starlight's help to boot!"

Starlight Glimmer walks up to Spike smiling at him. "That pretty much summarizes it, though you did most of the work." she said.

"Well, I wouldn't have done much of it without your help, Starlight." Spike sheepishly responds. He then notices Shining Armor and Princess Cadance walking up to him as the latter carried the baby Alicorn in her foreleg.

"Even so, we again thank you for saving Flurry Heart from that evil pony." Cadance said as her baby giggles a bit, "If he did what we feared he would, I wouldn't live it down."

"But the baby is safe and sound thanks to Spike and Starlight." Twilight Sparkle replied, "That's what matters in the end, right?"

"No doubt about it," Shining Armor said as he smiles at Spike.

The little dragon steps up to the baby and leans in for an adoring look at her. "Hello, Flurry Heart." he greets the little Alicorn, "I'm Spike, your aunt's assistant and hero of the Crystal Empire, the place where your parents are rulers of, which makes you a princess." Spike lifts up his claw within reach of the baby's grasp, which she looks at in curiosity and glances up at the little dragon's face.

"Don't worry, little guy," Spike reassures Flurry Heart, "I may be a dragon, but I'm very much like a pony."

Doubt comes across Twilight's face, for she is a little worried how her niece will react to the face of a baby dragon. Flurry Heart looks up at Spike for a few seconds, then smiles a wide smile. In an instant, she leaps off of her mother's foreleg and wraps her body, wings and all, around Spike in a tight hug as she giggles so heartily. The other ponies are surprised, but calm themselves as they see Flurry Heart giving Spike a nice hug.

"Aw, are you seeing this?" Pinkie cooed at the sight, "Little Flurry Heart is giving Spike the bestest hug she can give!"

"Guess she likes you a lot." Rainbow Dash added, being amused.

"I can- see that- clearly!" Spike chuckled while trying to gasp for breath as the baby squeezed him. Eventually, Flurry Heart lets go of Spike and floats up to the top of Shining Armor's head and lands on it, to her father's amusement.

"Say, Cadance," Spike asks Cadance, "you mentioned in that letter that there is a treat for me?"

"Indeed I did." Cadance answers, "You deserve it for saving Flurry Heart. And it is your favorite." Cadance playfully raises her eyebrow.

"Favorite what?" Spike wonders.

"Favorite cupcake!" Pinkie declares as she presents the treat close to Spike's face. As he notices it, Spike's grew wide at the sight. There in Pinkie's hooves is a large cupcake covered in light blue frosting and has little sapphire gems sprinkled on it.

"Do you remember this sapphire cupcake, the one you got from Mr. Cake and Mrs. Cake on your first birthday in Ponyville?" Pinkie asks, and Spike simply nods eagerly while drooling a little from the sight. "I figured you would like this one, and since you saved Cadance's and Shining Armor's filly, I even figured you deserve a large cupcake! This morning I went to a bakery not too far from here and whipped up this big boy in a flash! And it is still fresh!" Pinkie then gives Spike the cupcake.

"Thanks a lot, Pinkie!" said Spike.

"Anytime, Spiky!" Pinkie replied, "Now go on, let's see you chomp it down in one gulp!"

Wondering if his dragon instincts are kicking in or not, but shoved that thought aside anyway, Spike opens his mouth wide and prepared to take a bite of the cupcake...

But he paused.

Spike refrained from eating the cupcake and looked around in concern. The ponies are confused and concerned at what Spike is doing.

"What's the matter, Spike?" Starlight asks, "Don't you like the treat that is offered to you?"

"Yeah, it is nice and all. There's just something that's not right." Spike looked around some more and was getting worried, "It might be a bad time to ask this, but...where's Fluttershy?"

This question brought a sudden look of solemn shock and sadness to mostly everypony around Spike. Eventually, Applejack speaks up, "Ta be honest, sugarcube, she's still down in the dumps from what that bad pony did to us like a mushy apple losin' its flavor."

"We tried to coax her into celebrating your victory over last night's affairs," Rarity explained sadly, "but Fluttershy wouldn't budge from her bed due to being broken up over the fact of how cruel the evil pony was to us. The poor dear."

"What?!"

Everypony is startled by the honeyed voice, and in a flash, Discord appears hovering over the ponies. "I've been taking care of Fluttershy's animal friends back at her cottage, and I come here to find out that something dreadful happened to her in my absence?!" He exclaimed in a shocked manner.

"Sadly, it's true." Starlight said, "And it's a long story."

"As much as I would satisfy my curiosity to hear it, I'm more concerned for Fluttershy and want to check on her post haste." Discord responded.

"Bad idea, Discord." Rainbow Dash said as she hovered to Discord's eye level, "Fluttershy's been taking it pretty hard, and the last thing she needs is to hear what happened last night."

"Then what can I do till then?" Discord asks.

Spike glances at his cupcake, and he gets an idea. "Hey, Discord?"

The former spirit of chaos looks at the little dragon, "Yes?"

"Would you please cut this cupcake into quarters?"

Spike's request makes everypony gasp a little. Even Pinkie is shocked enough for her jaw to be hung pretty low.

"Spike, what are you saying?" Twilight asks surprised.

"Don't get the wrong idea," Spike replied firmly, "I appreciate receiving this cupcake, but I would feel more happy if I share it with my friends, even when it is to cheer them up. That includes Fluttershy."

Discord's eyes lit up at what Spike said. "Why, that's a marvelous idea!"

With a snap of his paw fingers and in a flash, Discord is dressed in a chef's attire and a floating table appears in front of him. The cupcake then disappears from Spike's claws and reappears on the table. Then, a knife appears in Discord's paw. "With a swish and a flick!"

Discord then quickly cut the cupcake across and downward. The table then morphs into a plate, and Discord's chef attire vanishes off of him as he presents the four pieces of the cut up cupcake to Spike. Everypony present is a little astonished at what Discord did per Spike's request. "Here you are, hero." Discord said, "into quarters, just as you kindly asked."

"Thanks, Discord." replied Spike as he took the plate.

"Um, Spike?" Shining Armor asks, "What are you gonna do with those pieces of the cupcake?"

"Give them to four ponies, of course." Spike answered.

"Four?" Starlight wonders out loud.

Spike takes a piece of the cupcake and offers it to Starlight. "Starlight," the little dragon says, "Even when I saved the Crystal Empire again, it wouldn't have been possible without your help. Think of this as thanks for aiding me with your help, and another forgiveness for 'you know what happened'."

Starlight is surprised, then slowly smiles as she takes the piece from Spike with her magic. "Thank you, Spike. That means a whole lot to me."

Spike then takes another piece and offers it to Cadance and Shining Armor. "You two, your baby is very special, not simply because she is the first born Alicorn, but also she will be somepony spectacular in the future." Shining Armor and Cadance couldn't help but smile as Spike continued, "And, as she grows up she will be counting on you two to show her what is right and wrong and be the best princess she can be. So, this is for your baby, so that she will know that good days always outnumber bad days."

Cadance uses her magic to take the piece of the cupcake. "Thank you very much, Spike. I'm sure Flurry Heart will love this treat."

"Oh!" Spike nearly exclaimed. "You don't have to let her nibble on the sapphires. You can take them out and um, make some jewelry out of them for your baby to wear."

"That's very thoughtful of you, Great and Honorable Spike." Shining Armor said.

Spike takes the third piece of the cupcake and looks up to the spirit of chaos. "Discord?"

"Yes? What is it?" Discord looks at Spike in curiousness.

"Can you give this piece to Fluttershy once she feels better?" asked Spike, "It's to show her that even though bad things happen, we always pick ourselves up, learn from those things and move forward. I'm sure she will understand this more than she does now."

Discord smiles and takes the piece from Spike. "I certainly hope so, young hero." he said, "I couldn't bear to see my friend Fluttershy be so down and broken. I'll bring word to her that it's thanks to you everything will be splendidly fine, once she's happily fluttering about of course. I'd hate to cut it short but I best take my leave, wouldn't want this to dry up. Ta-ta for now!" With that, Discord vanishes in a flash, and everypony is amused by his dramatic exit.

"So, Spike," Twilight speaks up, "Who's the last piece for?"

Spike didn't answer, he simply takes the last piece and walks up to the white unicorn. "Rarity?"

"Yes, Spike?" Rarity replies, a little curious.

"I had that dream where you and the girls were in danger," Spike explained, as her nervously glanced away from his crush, "It is what compelled me and Starlight to come here and rescue you in the first place. But now that everypony's safe, I'm relieved that you are safe most of all. That's why, I'd like you to have this part of the cupcake. It would mean a lot to see you happy and safe then to gulp the piece down myself."

Rarity feels touched by Spike's concern and generosity, and she takes the piece with her magic. "Why, I'm at a loss for words." she giggles, which Spike finds very cute. "Thank you so much." Rarity then nuzzles Spike's head, which makes him blush heavily yet he is in bliss of the moment. Everypony coos at the sight.

"What a grand example of humbleness and modesty, wouldn't you say sister?"

"Indeed it is."

Everypony then looks in surprise to see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna walking up them.

"Celestia and Luna!" Twilight chirps as they stop walking, "What brings you here?"

"Luna has informed me of Spike's and Starlight's heroic deeds at the Crystal Empire," Celestia said.

"And we wouldn't want to miss out on the celebration of last night's victory." Luna added.

"I would like to hear more about it," the sun princess inquired, "but I'm sure you all want to celebrate this occasion to your heart's content."

"You're right," Twilight replied, "we'll tell you all about it once this party Pinkie planned out is done."

"Great!" Pinkie yelled happily, "The more the merrier! Sorry to rush this, but the author's hitting his noggin to get things running!"

"What?" Twilight said, a bit perplexed.

"Nothing!" Pinkie quickly replied, "Oh and Spike?"

The little dragon turned to Pinkie. "I'm okay with how you split the cupcake and shared them with my pals and the baby!" she said, "Is everypony else okay with that?"

"Sure am, sugarcube." Applejack agreed.

"I'm cool with it." Rainbow Dash added in, "So are we gonna party or what?"

"Just a sec!" Pinkie then reaches her hooves to someplace out of view and pulls a cyan colored cannon from out of nowhere, "Everypony ready to party? Then lets PARTY!"

Pinkie pulled the string of the cannon, and it shot out a lot of colorful confetti into the sky. The Crystal Ponies then cheered and they spread out to have fun. As Spike, Starlight and the Mane Six gather at a table to eat, Celestia walks up to Cadance and Shining Armor. "Cadance? Me and Luna would like a word with you in private." said Celestia, "Do you have the time for that?"

"Um, yes, I do." Cadance replied and turned to her husband. "Keep watch over Flurry Heart for me, will you Shining?"

"Anything for you, Cadance." Shining Armor said. He watched as Cadance walked beside Celestia and joining up with Luna. Shining notices that Flurry Heart is asleep despite the partying going on and merely chuckles to himself. He then joins her sister and her friends in the celebration of Spike's and Starlight's victory over Chrysalis and her Changelings.

But he stopped, for the thought of the hooded pony came to mind. It is sad that Shining didn't get the chance to thank him for helping everypony, yet there was something familiar about him, but Shining Armor just couldn't put his hoof on it. He then shrugged and went to participate in the celebration with his sister and her friends.

* * *

"...Then I left the Crystal Empire in a jiffy as Azerrad disappeared taking Chrysalis and her Changelings with him, and you know the rest."

As Zenith finished his story and his plate, he sees that his friends are in shock of what they heard.

"Crikey!" Ace exclaimed, breaking the silence, "A baby Alicorn born for the first time in a long while. How my mind boggles!"

"But how?" Tranquil wondered, "I thought the birth rate of Alicorns dropped heavily due to the burden of keeping them safe a few millennia ago!"

"If that baby Alicorn was born recently," Chester said in his focused state, "that might be an omen of things to come."

"Well, thundering typhoons!" Pebble blurted out, "That scurvy Azerrad pony attempted to foalnap that little filly for his own plans! There's no telling who else will get the same idea!"

Meteo looks up to Zenith in concern. "You mentioned that when you used 'it', a shockwave erupted from somewhere, right?"

"Yeah I did." Zenith replied, "And I believe now that it came from me."

Zenith's friends looked at him in surprise. "Ye sure ye're not pulling our tails here, lad?" Pebble asks.

"I'm not." Zenith demurred as he looked as his hoof in wonder, "It's just a thought, but I think that 'it' that I wield somehow got upgraded...when I had that dream."

"What dream?" asked Tranquil.

"Where I was in a mysterious realm...and a mare appeared before me." Zenith explained, "She said that the darkness is close to returning from its slumber, and that a group of chosen ones must stop it from destroying the world again."

"What did the mare look like, mate?" Ace asked.

"She appeared blurry so I couldn't make it out," the silver Earth pony said, "until I felt my head hurt, like a lightning bolt stroke it right across my forehead, and...I remember seeing her from long ago. I still couldn't make out what that mare looked like, nor what type of pony she is, except that she was pretty tall, and had a red mane and tail, and a white coat."

Zenith friends continued to be amazed at what he told them. "You think she granted the upgrade of that 'it' to you?" Chester theorized.

"Possibly." said Zenith as he is in thought. Then he shrugged, "But until we learn more of this, we'd best continue with our plan."

"Plan?" Pebble said perplexed.

Chester sighed and looked at Pebble irritatingly. "You forgot again? The plan where we arrive in Ponyville once Zenith finds it suitable for our ship to be docked nearby it."

Pebble's eyes lit up. "Oh, yeah! Blistering barnacles! Guess I was thinking about giving Stony a good brushing that time."

"Sure, you were." Chester sarcastically said, rolling his eyes.

"Hey!" Meteo spoke up getting his friend's attention, "before we do that plan, how about singing that song? Please?"

Zenith saw Meteo giving a puppy eyed look while flapping his dragon wings excitedly. He chuckled, "Eh, why not? Let's do it."

"Yay!" Meteo cheered as he jumped off the stone table. "Can I sing along this time?"

The stallions froze in place and have uneasy looks on their faces. "Actually, lad, ye can do the chanting part with me if that's alright with ye." Pebble suggested nervously.

Meteo noticed the uneasy looks his friends have and sighed. "Fine." he said, "But this better be the last time I do so."

"That's a promise." Zenith replied, "Okay, once we finish up breakfast and clean up, we'll get our instruments and sing that song before I head off, got it?"

"Aye-aye, captain!" The stallions and colt responded to Zenith while saluting.

A few minutes go by, and Zenith and his friends stand around in a circle on the beach near their ship. "Chester!" Zenith called out, "You have that crystal?"

"Right here, señor!" Chester reached into his vest and pulled out a blue crystal.

"Alright," Zenith turned to the jade unicorn, "Tranquil, you know what to do."

"As always, my friend." Tranquil lit up his horn and used his magic to levitate the crystal from Chester's hoof. He then closed his eyes and concentrated, and the crystal started shining brightly in its own color. Then, six rays shot out of the crystal and landed in front of each stallion and colt. As the crystal stopped shining, the rays morphed into the instruments which the stallions and colt then picked up or mounted.

"Got my guitar!" Ace declared as he held up his cyan coloured guitar.

"Got my drum kit!" Chester said as he sat in the chair surrounded by orange and brown coloured drums and two cymbals and picked up his yellow drum sticks.

"Got my flute!" Tranquil held up his beige coloured flute with his magic that appears to be made out of wood.

Pebble put on some sort of instrument consisting of one long silver pipe with some contraptions on it, another pipe held in Pebble's hooves, and a pink bag connected by a tube to those pipes. "Uilleann pipes, ready to be blown!" Pebble said out loud.

"Don't forget my triangle!" Meteo held up his triangle steel bar and wooden wand in his hooves.

"And of course, my violin!" Zenith declared while holding up his violin and bow in his hooves. The odd thing about the violin though, is that it is coloured dark purple. "Ready?"

"Ready!" Zenith's friends responded.

Zenith smiled and pointed his bow to Pebble, who then tucked his pink bag between his foreleg and barrel securely. After a second or two, Pebble squeezes the bag and fiddles his hooves on his little pipe in a quick manner, playing a starting and catchy melody which flowed out of his long pipe.

Then, as Pebble plays a long note, Chester starts to tap one of his drums with his sticks at a steady pace. Then Chester hits one of the cymbals, which signals the rest of the stallions and colt to play their instruments. Ace strums the strings of his guitar with his hoof as he hovers in the air, Tranquil blows into his flute as he uses his magic to hold it up and cover the little holes with his hooves for the right note, Meteo clangs his triangle with his wand every few seconds, and Zenith moves his bow up and down the strings on his violin while moving his hoof onto the strings near the end of the neck and pegbox. The odd thing here is that Zenith is standing on his hind legs as he plays his violin with both of his front hooves.

After a few seconds of all of Zenith and his friends playing their individual melodies mixing well into the song, Tranquil, Meteo and Zenith cease their playing, Pebble starts to play a soft melody as Chester drums faintly, and Ace strums a casually catchy rhythm. Zenith takes a breath and sings the first two verses:

[Zenith]

 _How wonderful the sun shines today_

 _It's warmth is soothing and fair_

 _The miracles it brings forth_

 _Is breathtaking, this I swear_

 _Never did its rays let me down_

 _Everything it touches grows_

 _From the first born pony_

 _To the beautiful rose_

Meteo then chimes his triangle, as Zenith sings this bridge to the chorus while having his violin on standby:

 _Everywhere I go_

 _It always shines down on me_

Then, Zenith plays his violin as he, Tranquil and Ace sing the chorus while they and the rest of their friends play their instruments as best as they can:

[Zenith, Tranquil and Ace]

 ** _Sunshine, oh grand sunshine_**

 ** _How thankful I am to you_**

 ** _Sunshine, oh grand sunshine_**

 ** _All of your intentions are true_**

 ** _No matter where I am_**

 ** _No matter what I do_**

 ** _I will always see_**

 ** _In one, two three_**

 ** _Oh, the sunshine is there for you_**

Tranquil then plays a melody solo on his flute as the rest of his friends play individual rhythms to help synthesize the solo. Afterwards, Meteo got up to Pebble's side as the latter played a soft tune with his pipes and they both chanted in a foreign language:

[Pebble and Meteo]

 ** _Iontach Solas na gréine, cé chomh buíoch Tá mé chun tú_**

 ** _Iontach Solas na gréine, cé chomh buíoch Tá mé chun tú_**

As Pebble and Meteo repeat the chant, Zenith sings the next two verses:

[Zenith]

 _If there's a word that describes you_

 _For me it would be 'good'_

 _Even if you're expected to always shine_

 _That doesn't mean you always should_

 _The old saying goes 'nopony's perfect'_

 _And I agree wholeheartedly on that_

 _For if perfection is life's only rule_

 _Then everything would feel so flat_

Pebble and Meteo stop their chanting and the latter chimes his triangle again as Zenith sings the bridge:

 _Everywhere I go_

 _It always shines down on me_

Once again, Zenith plays his violin as he, Tranquil and Ace sing the chorus while the others play their instruments in the same manner as before:

[Zenith, Tranquil and Ace]

 ** _Sunshine, oh grand sunshine_**

 ** _How thankful I am to you_**

 ** _Sunshine, oh grand sunshine_**

 ** _All of your intentions are true_**

 ** _No matter where I am_**

 ** _No matter what I do_**

 ** _I will always see_**

 ** _In one, two three_**

 ** _Oh, the sunshine is there for you_**

Zenith then plays his solo with his violin as his other friends play rhythms to accompany the solo. High and low the notes from his violin were played in a most splendid manner as Zenith replays his solo, and his friends start to throw in their own solos for the fun of it but also making sure they don't interfere with Zenith's solo.

They then die down their playing, and Tranquil, Ace and Meteo play their instruments in a new melody softly as Zenith sings the bridge:

[Zenith]

 _Whenever you waver_

 _Always know this saying,_

 _'With your friends by your side_

 _No burden is overweighing'_

Then, they all play the chorus; Pebble, Meteo start chanting as Chester makes various 'ooh' melodies out of his throat while keeping the rhythm of his drumming, and Tranquil, Ace and Zenith sing the chorus again while the latter two play their instruments harder than before:

[Zenith, Tranquil and Ace]

 ** _Sunshine, oh grand sunshine_**

 ** _How thankful I am to you_**

([Pebble and Meteo] **_Iontach Solas na gréine, cé chomh buíoch Tá mé chun tú_** )

[Zenith, Tranquil and Ace]

 ** _Sunshine, oh grand sunshine_**

 ** _All of your intentions are true_**

([Pebble and Meteo] **_Iontach Solas na gréine, cé chomh buíoch Tá mé chun tú_** )

[Zenith, Tranquil and Ace]

 ** _No matter where I am_**

 ** _No matter what I do_**

([Pebble and Meteo] **_Iontach Solas na gréine, cé chomh buíoch Tá mé chun tú_** )

[Zenith, Tranquil and Ace]

 ** _I will always see_**

 ** _In one, two three_**

 ** _Oh, the sunshine is there for you_**

[Tranquil]

 _The sunshine is there for you_

[Ace]

 _The sunshine is there for you_

They stop their playing of instruments aside from Meteo still clanging his triangle as Zenith sings the last line:

[Zenith]

 _The sunshine is there for you!_

As Zenith prolongs the last word of the song, Tranquil plays his flute solo from before as the other stallions and colt play their instruments to prepare for the climax of the finale.

Then, Zenith finishes singing the song, and his friends cease their playing of their instruments at the same time.

Silence hung a bit in the air.

Eventually, they all cheer for themselves and congratulate each other for an awesome performance.

"Nice chanting as always, Meteo!" Zenith said as he ruffled the Longma's mane.

"Awesome singing to you too, Zenith!" Meteo replied cheerfully, "So, you think we're ready to start the plan?"

"We are, little guy," said the sliver stallion, "no doubt about it."

Zenith looked to the south-eastern horizon, wondering if he'll be able to patch things up with the mare he knows from long ago.

* * *

In the mysterious cave at the Badlands, Dark Shadow sits on his throne pondering his next plan. He glances at the Changelings who are still mourning their unconscious Queen, Chrysalis, whose horn got snapped off her head by the hooded pony.

Then, a maniac laughter is heard throughout the cave that frightens the Changelings yet Dark Shadow grunts at the notion.

"Ryzoth," Dark Shadow said, unamused, "Is this how you reintroduce yourself after your many decades of slumber?"

A pony then appears before Dark Shadow, his appearance hidden in the shadows, only for his green eyes and his teeth shown in his wicked smile be revealed. "It's just who I am, Dad." Ryzoth replied to his master, "Laughing at anypony's misfortune is just so much fun." He then giggles in a mischievous manner, "so, how may I be of service?"

"I intend to move forward with my plan of making myself known to Equestria after a thousand years of being trapped down here, and it started with my apprentice Azerrad attempting to accomplish one of these plans," explained Dark Shadow, and he then looked to the unconscious Chrysalis, "but, somepony got in the way and left a grave message for us."

Ryzoth looked to where Dark Shadow is looking, and his eyes lit up. He sees a feminine creature lying there, and he whistles. "Helloooooooooo, hotty!"

"Focus, Ryzoth!" barked Dark Shadow.

Ryzoth froze in fear at his master's anger, and recomposes himself. "Sorry, Dad," Ryzoth apologized, "But that pony there looks so hot. It's been a while since I had any 'fun' with a mare."

"That is not a pony." Dark Shadow said, "That is Chrysalis, a Changeling."

"Really?" Ryzoth responded in a mocking manner, "Wonder what gave her away? Her eyelashes?"

"Ryzoth," Dark Shadow rises up from his throne, "There is this pony and his companions who have gotten in our way one too many times, thus, I called you here for an important task."

"And what would that be, Dad?" asked Ryzoth.

"I want you to be my ambassador once more," said Dark Shadow, "and recruit some worthy adversaries of the ponies of Equestria. This is one of those adversaries."

Dark Shadow lit up his horn in a red aura, and from that horn came a dark red cloudy ring of smoke showing something to Ryzoth.

"Oooh, that guy?" Ryzoth said, "He sure doesn't look so 'adversary' at the moment."

The smoke disappears, and Dark Shadow looks at Ryzoth. "Even so, he will be a worthy ally to our cause." Dark Shadow said, "Now, go, and recruit him. This I command of you."

Ryzoth bowed to Dark Shadow, "As you wish, Daddy-o." Ryzoth then starts to snicker and then laugh uncontrollably as he disappears in a faint dark green aura. His laughter still echoes in the cave which frighten the Changelings once more.

"Celestia," Dark Shadow chuckled darkly, "soon, this game will be the last you ever played."

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

 **Another song written by yours truly titled 'Sunshine'**

 **I apologize if it didn't make sense to you.**

 **The life of an author is never easy. Enjoy. :)**


	14. Chapter 13

As the party at the Crystal Empire went on throughout the morning, Princess Cadance is with the two royal sisters, Celestia and Luna. They had finished explaining to her what they know, and the Princess of Love is nearly surprised.

"So, Twilight and her friends got lovesick last night at the same time?" Cadance asked as she regained her composure.

"That's right," replied Luna, "I am unsure how that happened, but it seems that it is no coincidence it did."

"To be sure though," Celestia said, "Do you sense that feeling in Twilight and her friends, Cadance?"

Cadance looked behind her and spotted Twilight conversing with Shining Armor as Flurry Heart sat on his head. "Now that you mention it," Cadance looked back to the royal sisters, "I did sense something that lingered in Twilight's mind, this longing to be with somepony that will understand her and support her. It is faint, but it's still there. If the same thing happened to her friends who used to be the Element bearers, then it might be possible what you have told me is true. So, what do we do?"

"Until we agree otherwise," replied Celestia, "Those girls must not learn what we know. It would leave them with more questions than even we might not answer."

"What if they find out by themselves that they felt the same feeling?" questioned Cadance.

"Then we would have to tell them at least some of what we know." answered Luna, turning to her elder sister, "Is that alright, sister?"

Celestia sighed sadly, "Yes. For now, let's put these thoughts aside and celebrate."

As Celestia walked to the party, Cadance and Luna looked at each other in concern for the sun princess. Luna then nodded and went in another direction of the party, and Cadance thought a bit on what the royal sisters told her. Eventually she shook her head, not wanting to dwell on something that concerns everypony, and Cadance went to her family, at least to pretend nothing is wrong.

* * *

At the beach of an island a bit west of Equestria where the ship is docked, Zenith and his friends prepare their plan.

"Okay, here's how its gonna play out." explained Zenith, as Meteo, Pebble, Chester, Tranquil and Ace are lined up in front of the silver coated stallion, "I'll head to Ponyville and request a house for the six of us, and if there is enough space at least behind the house for our ship, I'll contact you tomorrow with one of my magic crystals and tell you where it's located so that you'll dock the ship at that place."

"Why tomorrow?" Pebble asked.

"Because the ship needs more time to cool down from our little trip last night," Zenith replied, "right, Chester?"

"Correct, señor," Chester confirmed, "the engines have been rusty lately, but I'm sure I'll have them ready to go by tomorrow morning."

"Hope it doesn't end up taking tomorrow arvo." Ace said.

Meteo walks up to Zenith giving a solemn look, "I wish I can come with you," Meteo said, sniffing a bit, "but I know the reason you stated earlier."

"Aw, don't worry, Meteo," Zenith knelt down and offered a hug, and Meteo quickly accepts it, "It will be just for a few hours, and if you came along, I don't know how the ponies will react to a Longma, so we'd best take it slow until everything's fine."

Meteo broke the hug, "You promise to call us, alright?"

"I promise, little guy." Zenith stands up and looks to his friends. "Tranquil!" he called, "my violin, please?"

"Oh, yes! Right away." Tranquil levitated the blue crystal with his magic, and he concentrated. A wave of blue energy flowed out of the crystal and swirled in front of Zenith. The energy then materializes into a violin case, and Zenith grabs hold of it.

"Thanks, Tranquil." said Zenith.

"A pleasure, captain." Tranquil bowed.

"Well, I'd best be off!" Zenith declared.

"Alright, mate!" said Ace, "Just be sure to- to...ah...ah..." Something tickles Ace's nose.

"Ka-BOOM!"

And it makes Ace sneeze in an unusual manner, which his friends rolled their eyes at. Ace wipes his nose with his hoof and looks up to Zenith continuing his sentence, "To bring up if there's any good looking mares where you're going, 'kay?"

"I'll...keep that in mind." Zenith then puts on his purple bag, straddles his violin case over his back and turns around. He pauses and looks behind to his friends, and smiles. "See you tomorrow!" Zenith waves his hoof, and his friends to the same.

"Have a bloody swell time going off, mate!" Ace called.

"¡Adiós!" said Chester.

" Gàobié, Captain." Tranquil said, bowing again.

"What he said!" Pebble added.

"Be sure to call us soon!" called Meteo.

And so Zenith turns to the path ahead of him and trots off. He then gallops to the forest as his friends watch on in happiness, mostly Meteo.

* * *

A few hours later at the Ponyville station, Twilight, Starlight, Spike and their friends exit the train and walk onto the platform. They we're feeling good from having a great time at the party at the Crystal Empire.

Except for one pony.

Fluttershy walked slowly as Applejack and Rainbow Dash accompanied her from either side. The light-yellow coated mare's face is still sad and somber from last night's events, and her friends sympathetic faces show how much it affected her. Even Pinkie looks sad about it that her mane and tail is a bit deflated, literally.

"Um, thank you all for bringing me back here with you," Fluttershy said sadly without looking up, "if you don't mind, I would like to be alone at my cottage for a while."

"Want me to at least go along with you until you get there?" Rainbow Dash asked, keeping her patience in check for her friend's sake.

"Um...sure. I don't mind." answered Fluttershy.

"Remember, sugarcube, we'll be right along to check up on ya once in a while," Applejack said, "and if there's anythin' ya need, you just let us know, alright?"

"Yes." Fluttershy replied quietly. She then took off slowly to the air, with Rainbow Dash following close by. Both Pegasi flew slowly in another direction, as their friends watch in concern and sympathy.

"I hope Fluttershy will be alright." Starlight said.

"Same here." Spike added.

"We all do." Twilight replied, then she sighed and looked to her friends, "Guys?"

The ponies and dragon looked to the Alicorn. "Can you spare a few minutes with me at the Castle of Friendship?" Twilight asks, "There's something I want to discuss."

"Does it have to do with what happened last night?" Rarity wondered.

"Something of the sort." Twilight responded.

The mares thought about it for a moment. "Well," Applejack spoke up, "Ah might not focus on my chores knowin' that Fluttershy is as sad as a soaked piece of fence wood. So yeah, Ah'll hear what ya want to lay out in front of us."

"I suppose my dresses will have to wait." said Rarity.

Pinkie took a few seconds to think on it, then she said, "Yeah, I'll hear what's on your mind."

"Thanks girls." said Twilight. They then left the station and walked to the castle, with Starlight and Spike following behind them. As they walked, Spike tapped Starlight's shoulder to get her attention, and she looked to Spike.

"What is it, Spike?" Starlight asked.

Spike motioned for Starlight to lean closer to his head, which she complied a little perplexed. Spike then put his right claw to his opposite side of his mouth and spoke nearly above a whisper, "Starlight, when will we tell Twilight what Zecora is looking for?"

Starlight remembered what Spike is getting at, along with her visions of the mysterious pony. "Oh, that. Probably not until Twilight is certain that Fluttershy is okay," Starlight whispered to Spike, "I think Twilight has enough on her plate to worry about, so we'll tell her once everything's a little normal around here."

"Okay." Spike replied.

They continued walking with their friends, and Starlight started to wonder about everything that happened so far, and how the visions she had fit into all this. But she put it aside for now, wanting to learn what Twilight wants to discuss.

* * *

The ponies in Ponyville came up to Twilight and her friends and wanted to know what happened at the Crystal Empire. But Twilight simply stated that she and her friends are a little tired from last night's charade. Most of the ponies were disappointed, though they understood since they noticed the sad looks on the mares' and dragon's face.

A few minutes later, Twilight, Spike, Starlight, Applejack, Pinkie and Rarity are in the library of the Castle of Friendship standing at a crystal table. "So, Twilight," Applejack spoke, "what is it ya want to get off yer back?"

Twilight sees the eager yet concern looks on her friends' faces, and sighs a little. "It's about what Discord told us last night." she said.

"Discord?" Starlight looked at Twilight confused, "What does he have to do with this?"

"He said that seeing Cadance's and Shining Armor's filly might make us think about settling down with a special somepony, yes?" Rarity assured.

"That's right." Twilight confirmed, "At first I thought Discord was simply fooling around...but now, I think he-"

WHOOSH!

A cyan blur suddenly zoomed through the library just past Twilight and her friends. It flew back to the table and landed on it. After they recover from the surprise, the ponies and the dragon see Rainbow Dash panting a bit. "Here you guys are!" she said, "What'd I miss?"

"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity chided, adjusting her mane a bit, "Once again you nearly ruined my coiffure!"

"Seriously, can't you at least try the front door?" Spike added in.

"Hey, I just flew from Fluttershy's cottage when I took her there!" Dash sternly demurred as she hopped off the table beside Applejack, "Discord was there, which ticked me off, but he knows how Fluttershy's feeling and promises to give her space. I then left to find you guys, but a stallion said that you came here, so I flew here and here we are. So, what'd I miss?"

"Speakin' of which," Applejack adjusted her hat, "you're actually in time, RD. Twilight's about to tell us what Discord told us before the fillynappin' happened."

"What? That mumbo jumbo Discord fished out?" Dash looked to Twilight, "You really want to talk about it like right now?"

"Love might not be up your department," Twilight said, "but this could be something that affects all of us, so you might want to at least listen."

"Ugh, fine," Dash grimaced silently, "Just make it quick."

The ponies and Spike rolled their eyes at Rainbow Dash's impatience, and Twilight started her statement again, "I want to discuss what Discord told us last night. At first I thought he was fooling around, but now...I think he's right."

"How so?" Starlight asked.

"Well, when we got to bed, I was having trouble getting to sleep due to Discord's opinion on settling down with a special somepony popping into my mind," Twilight stated, "Then, I started to have these thoughts...that maybe I should find somepony to love and settle down with, somepony that could make me the happiest mare in Equestria."

Pinkie's eyes widen in alert, and her mane and tail return to normal. "Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed, "I had those same thoughts, too!"

"Well Ah'll be!" Applejack said in surprise, "Ah'm in the same boat as you are!"

"You too? Goodness!" Rarity put her hoof under her chin in awe, "I usually had these thoughts, but last night might have been genuine!"

"What?" Twilight looked to each of four of the Mane Six, "You all had those thoughts at the same time?"

Pinkie, Applejack and Rarity agreed, though Rainbow Dash is confused.

"But this can't be a mere coincidence," Twilight demurred out loud, "Not every group of ponies think of the same thing at once. If me, Pinkie, Applejack and Rarity thought of the same thing, that means something is going on between the six of us, including Fluttershy and..."

All eyes are on Rainbow Dash, who starts to glance at her friends nervously. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Did you think of anything on this matter, Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asks.

"What? Don't kid yourself!" Dash tried to put it off with her attitude, "Not every mare's got the time for that! Me included!"

"Dash, Ah'm all about honesty," Applejack stated, "and Ah can tell when somepony tries to pretend nothin's wrong. Are ya sure ya didn't have the same thoughts we did?"

"Yeah, are you sure you had a good night's sleep unlike us?" Pinkie added.

Rainbow Dash bites her lip in desperation to think of a fib. But the eager eyes of her friends and the encouraging they kept up was too much for her to handle even if she didn't want to admit it. Eventually, she had enough.

"Okay! I confess!" Dash blurted out, silencing her friends, "I had trouble hitting the sack because what Discord explained last night kept popping into my head! I tried to tell myself that this isn't like me to think of such stupid things, but in the end I admitted that I want to be all mushy and cuddly with a good looking stallion!"

The cyan Pegasus then slumped down from her outburst, "Now my rep's gonna crash down, and everypony including the Wonderbolts will laugh at me, all because I started thinking I'd have a chance to hook up with a special somepony." Rainbow Dash put her hoof to her forehead in shame. Then, Rarity put her hoof on Dash's shoulder, getting the Pegasus's attention.

"Dash, darling, it's nothing to be ashamed of." the white Unicorn said, "It's normal to think of those things once in a while, even when a handsome stallion catches your eye and everything about him seems so radiant and perfect you develop a crush on him and daydream your happy lives together."

"Like how you did the same with Celestia's 'nephew'?" Applejack snickered.

Rarity glared at the orange Earth pony, "Well, appearances might not be everything, I admit that, but decisions and actions are."

"Ditto on that!" Spike eagerly agreed.

"So, what do we do about this strange phenomenon?" Starlight asks.

"I think we'd best keep this to ourselves while I try to figure it out with the books that can provide the information." said Twilight.

"What about telling Princess Cadance about our think alike situation?" Pinkie suggested, "She's the expert on love, so she could have the know-how on this if you come across any duds the books have."

Twilight raised her eyebrow at Pinkie's suggestion and supposed remark on books, "I might think on that."

"Can you all at least promise not to tell anypony about my little problem?" Rainbow Dash asks desperately.

"Alright, Dash, we promise to not breath a word about you and your 'love' affair," Rarity said, turning to her friends, "Do we, girls and Spikey"?

"I promise!" Spike declared.

"I Pinkie Promise!" Pinkie added, and she made some motions with her hoof, "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!"

The rest of the mares agreed to their amusement.

"Thanks, guys." Rainbow Dash said, "You're the best."

* * *

Meanwhile, an Earth pony walks down a path leading out of a forest and towards Ponyville. Zenith carries his purple bag and violin case over his back without any difficulty. As he comes to the top of a hill, he pauses. In front of Zenith is a sight so welcoming.

There were plenty of houses surrounding business buildings as far as he could see, and ponies were going to and fro being pretty happy among themselves. Zenith couldn't help but smile, "It's true on what those books said then. Ponyville is one happy place to live in that it doesn't need to change itself."

Zenith turned his head left, and what he notices caught him off guard completely. Close by is a large castle made out of crystal. "What the ding dong? That wasn't there before." Zenith wondered. What caught his eye is the how the castle looks...familiar to him. "It seems some things have changed around here. I think I better see what that castle is all about."

Zenith then trots towards the castle, wondering how it got there and by what circumstances made it so. Little does he know that those answers might come to him sooner than he bargained for.

* * *

"Whoa!" Pinkie starts feel something in her body, which alerts her friends.

"Pinkie? What's wrong?" Twilight asks in concern.

"My Pinkie Sense is tingling!" Pinkie responded, checking herself all over. "Tail's a twitchin'!" Her tail spasms a bit, "Ooh, back's a shiverin'!" Then her back shivers a little, "Tee hee hee, mane's a ticklin'!" Her mane jiggles a bit making her giggle, "Whoa! Eyes' a spinnin'!" Then her eyes spin about. Pinkie then clutches her head with her hooves, making her eyes stop spinning. "Wow! Now that's a doozy I haven't felt in a long while!"

"What sign is your sense telling ya, Pinkie?" asked Applejack.

"Didn't I tell you what this doozy meant already?" Pinkie chirped.

"Uh, last time I checked, no." Rainbow Dash said.

"Well, my tail twitched, my back shivered, my mane tickled, and my eyes spinned round and round and round!" Pinkie effused, "That means a new pony will be arriving in Ponyville!"

The mares and Spike are surprised at this, though Twilight raised her eyebrow in confusion. She couldn't understand Pinkie's 'sense' when she heard about it from her and tried to find a scientific explanation for it, but Twilight admitted that accepting something rather than trying to understand it is better for herself and everypony. Twilight usually keeps a list of various signs the Pinkie Sense whips up, and what Pinkie sensed now is new to her. "Has that sign happened before?" Twilight asked.

"Duh! Of course it has! Regularly at times when a new pony comes to Ponyville!" Pinkie said happily, "Like how this doozy went off when you and Spike came here, remember?"

"Oh, yeah!" Spike replied, "Back then you came up to me and Twilight when Celestia sent us here for her to make friends!"

"Exactly!" said Pinkie. "Now this doozy is telling me that this new pony is coming here right now!"

The mares and Spike are a little bewildered at Pinkie's prediction. "Uh, what?" Rainbow Dash muttered out loud perplexedly.

* * *

Zenith walks up the front stairs and pauses in front of the golden doors. He then takes a deep breath.

"Here goes." he says quietly. Zenith raises his hoof, and makes five quick knocks on the door followed by three normal knocks.

* * *

A strange knocking is heard throughout the library, one Twilight and her friends never heard of.

"What a peculiar knocking sound." Rarity said in curiousness.

"That must be the new pony!" Pinkie declared cheerfully.

"How'd you know that?" Starlight asks.

"Duh! Pinkie sense!" Pinkie reiterated, "And a hunch."

"Well, if Pinkie's sense picked up on somethin' then Ah believe it." Applejack said, "Meeting this new pony could liven things up here."

"Alright, lets meet this new pony." Twilight declared, turning to Starlight, "Want to come, Starlight? It can be your chance to make a new friend!"

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to meet somepony new." Starlight replied.

* * *

Zenith waited for a minute or two outside the door after he knocked it. Then, the door opened. What he saw was something he'd never thought to see again.

To Zenith, the lilac mare with the most smoothest silky mane and pure violet eyes standing there sends a shiver up his back and his heart skipping a beat. It's as if fate made things way better for him now that he reunited with his friend. But then Zenith notices the confused look in her eyes, like she has trouble wondering if she saw him before or not, and that troubled him a bit.

To Twilight, this silver coated stallion with a dark purple spiky mane and lilac eyes wearing a golden vest and a thin purple scarf sends various thoughts through her mind. It's like a test is laid out in front of her, the kind she recalls taking yet she didn't study at least a day for it. And for some reason, the stallion seems very familiar to Twilight, she just couldn't put her hoof on it.

Eventually, Twilight speaks first, "Um, hello there."

"Hello," Zenith replies, keeping his composure, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything you are busy with?"

"Not at all." Twilight shook her head, "We weren't expecting anypony new to come here, well, most of us anyway."

"Oh?" Zenith raised his eyebrow.

Twilight then uses her magic to open the doors wide open, and her friends step out into the sunlight.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship," Twilight introduces herself, then she motions to her friends from her left side to her right, "and these are my friends, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity," and she motions to the dragon and the heliotrope Unicorn mare, "my assistant Spike, and my apprentice Starlight Glimmer."

"Hey there!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Howdy do, partner." Applejack tipped her hat.

"Hiya!" Spike eagerly waved his claw.

"H-hello." Starlight says nervously.

Only Pinkie and Rarity remained silent, the former smiling casually like she's waiting for something to happen, and the latter seemingly in a lost trance.

And what a trance the white unicorn was in.

In her own mind, Rarity could see this averagely handsome stallion standing in front of a pink sparkling background, and she somehow feels her heart beating harder than normal. She glanced at every part of his body, from his gleaming silver coat, his spiky dark purple mane, to the assertive look in his lilac eyes.

But what caught Rarity's attention is his hooves. Unlike most stallions whose hooves are bare, this stallion has the most straight and defined hooves she has ever seen. Though for some reason, Rarity recalls seeing them from somewhere before, but the thoughts of seeing the most handsome stallion ever and her barrel feeling like butterflies are fluttering about distracted her entirely.

Until something nudges her shoulder.

"Rarity?" Starlight pokes Rarity to get her attention, "Rarity?"

"Huh? What?" Rarity notices that her friends and the stallion are giving odd looks to her, mostly of confusion and concern, and her cheeks blush a bright pink as she quickly recomposes herself, "Oh my! Was I staring at something? How rude of me." Rarity giggles nervously then she clears her throat, "There's nothing wrong, if that's what you all are concerned about."

"No harm done, Miss Rarity." Zenith shook his head a little while smiling.

Hearing the soothing masculine voice and seeing that soft smile made Rarity giggle again as she faintly blushed, "Um, just Rarity will do."

Then, Zenith's eyes widen, for he realizes something. "EH?!" He looks at Spike with a nearly gape look, "A baby dragon?"

Spike was surprised by Zenith's outburst, but he regained composure, "You bet I'm a dragon. Didn't think you see one raised by ponies?"

"Well, I-" Zenith stopped sort, realizes something else and,

SMACK!

Slaps his forehead with his hoof, so hard in fact that it sounded loud enough for Twilight and her friends to be worried about. "What's wrong, sugarcube?" Applejack asks.

"Nothing serious. Just being stupid for not having the proper manners of introducing myself, which I'll do now." Zenith clears his throat, "Hello, I'm-"

GASP!

Pinkie makes a long gasp while her eyes widen and her body spasms a bit in the air, interrupting Zenith. Then she zooms down the path right above the stallion who dodges his head. He looks back to see where Pinkie went, to no avail. "That's one hyperactive mare." Zenith stated.

"You have no idea." Rainbow Dash replied rolling her eyes, "So what's your name? Don't leave us hanging!"

"Wasn't planning on it." Zenith clears his throat again, "My name is Zenith."

Twilight's eyes widen at that name. It was the one she recalls from her memories where her young self met a colt introducing himself.

"Twilight? What's the matter?" Starlight notices Twilight being shocked.

"Oh! Uh, nothing." Twilight assures her apprentice. "Thought I knew something, but false alarm."

Then, a thought sprung up in Zenith's mind, "Wait a minute," he said, "Princess? Does that mean...?

Rainbow Dash flew up to Zenith's face, "That's right, bud! Twilight's an Alicorn! You got a problem with that?" She glares at him to emphasize her point.

But surprisingly Zenith remained calm, "None whatsoever," he replied.

Dash then softens her face, "Good. I'm just messing with ya." She floats back down beside Applejack.

"So, Zenith," the orange Earth pony said, "Ah take it this is yer first time coming to Ponyville?"

"Actually, it's my second time."

Twilight and her friends gasp at Zenith's response, which he finds strange. "What? It's the truth." he affirmed.

"Then when was your first time?" Starlight asks.

"A few years ago." Zenith answered, "My granny and I came here just to gather some supplies so that I can enroll into a school in another city."

"So, where is your granny now?" asked Twilight.

Zenith's face turned solemn at that question, "She's..." he turned his face away and closed his eyes, "...in a better place."

Twilight and her friends are taken aback by that answer Zenith said. "Oh, sugarcube, Ah'm sorry to hear that." Applejack sympathizes with the stallion.

"Thanks for the sympathy." Zenith replies, sniffing a bit, "Granny's passing is what compelled me to go travelling."

"Travelling for what?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Sightseeing, learning about myself, stuff to help with, that kind of travelling." Zenith stated, "And now, I intend to move in to Ponyville, to at least have a home that I can go back to."

"Really? That's great!" Twilight declared gleefully, but she noticed her outburst as everypony looked at her and she calmed down. "I mean, that's great. Ponyville's got plenty of ponies you can be friends with."

"Well yes, but first I have to find a house to move into." Zenith looked back at Ponyville for a moment, "Is there a pony in charge of that town, one I can discuss with over which house to buy?"

"That would be Mayor Mare." Spike answered, "As her name suggests, she's the mayor of Ponyville. She can help you with what you need to move in."

"And we'd like to help you with that." said Twilight, "You don't mind, right?"

"Not at all." replied Zenith.

"Great! Let's go." Twilight declared.

They then all head to Ponyville, Twilight, Spike, Starlight and Zenith up front, and Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity from behind. As they walked, Applejack gives a sly smirk at Rarity, which the white Unicorn notices. "What's so amusing, Applejack?" she asks.

"Ah couldn't help but notice the look ya gave to the new guy." Applejack said.

"Look? Whatever do you mean?" Rarity nervously looked away.

"Come on, no need to be modest." Applejack leaned a bit towards Rarity, "You were talking about meeting the perfect special somepony earlier, and now..."

Rarity blushed pink as she realizes what Applejack is getting at. "What? Don't be absurd." she chided lightly, "As I said before, appearances are not always everything."

"Okay, but don't say Ah didn't warn ya." Applejack chuckled a bit, "Ah won't push this further, but you'll have to come to terms with it before it runs away with yer brain like a chicken escapin' it's coop."

Rarity simply huffed and continued walking. At first she didn't want to admit it, but the thoughts Rarity had before came faintly to her mind, and the white Unicorn wonders if she really is doing what she believes she might.

Having an immediate crush on a stallion is a rare case for the white mare, for the emotions she's feeling now are vaguely different then the times she had a crush on 'certain' stallions.

Rarity just hopes she is being foalish, but that remains to be seen.

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

 **I apologize if this chapter got rushed, sometimes I'm not half as good as other fanfiction authors.**

 **But I assure you, things will get serious in feature chapters. Enjoy. :)**


	15. Chapter 14

Town Hall. A building in Ponyville where various events are planned and decisions are made by a group of ponies in charge of many positions. But the one pony who holds the most important position of all, is Mayor Mare, the mayor of Ponyville.

Mayor Mare is at her desk in her office looking through some files. She has a light cornflower bluish gray mane and tail with lighter streaks, a pale light grayish amber coat, moderate phthalo blue eyes, and a cutie mark of a tan scroll tied with a blue ribbon. Around her neck is a suit collar tied with a bushy dark green tie, and she wears a pair of yellow glasses.

Even though she focused on seeing the latest status the files contained, Mayor Mare's mind wandered a bit to Twilight Sparkle and her friends feeling down when they returned from the Crystal Empire. 'I hope they are not too sad,' Mayor Mare thought, 'Everypony's wanting to hear what happened at the Crystal Empire, though I know better than to press the matter further than Princess Twilight can handle.'

Just then, a knock is heard at the door, gaining Mayor Mare's attention. "Come in." she said.

A mare Pegasus enters the office. She has moderate cyan eyes, a light cyan mane and tail, a light gold coat and a cutie mark of three raindrops. She appears to be surprised. "Mayor Mare?" said the light gold Pegasus, "Princess Twilight is here."

Mayor Mare's eyes light up, "Oh? Has she decided to tell us what transpired at the Crystal Empire, Raindrops?" she asks.

"No," Raindrops replied, "but she has a stallion with her that's new to Ponyville and he wishes to directly meet you."

"A new pony?" Mayor Mare set down the files on her desk, "Alright. Tell them that I'll be along shortly."

"Yes, Mayor Mare." Raindrops leaves the office.

Meanwhile, in a hallway, Twilight Sparkle, Starlight Glimmer, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity and Zenith wait for the Mayor to greet them. From time to time, Rarity would take slow glances at Zenith, being entranced by his spiky mane, his smooth looking coat, and his lilac eyes. Zenith noticed Rarity watching him, and she blushed, quickly looking sheepishly at the ground. Applejack notices this and smirks, for she knows that the white Unicorn may have found her special somepony, Rarity just needs the right moment to make it known to the stallion.

The door opens, gaining everypony's attention, and Raindrops pops her head out. "The Mayor will see you now," she declared.

"Thank you," Twilight said.

As they enter the workplace, the mares temporarily halt their work and see Twilight and her friends. But what caught their attention the most is the silver coated stallion. Zenith looks around the workplace and at some of the mares, most of them glancing away blushing or giggling, and they whisper among themselves about the new stallion.

"Ahem!"

The mares are startled and see Mayor Mare giving a raised eyebrow to them. "Shouldn't you all be getting back to work?" she said, "I don't recall giving you all a break."

The mares gave uneasy glances to each other, and resume their work. Mayor Mare walks up to Twilight and her friends. "Greetings, Twilight," she greets the lilac coated Alicorn, "I hear there's a new stallion in Ponyville?"

"That's right, Mayor Mare." Twilight replied, "This is Zenith."

The silver coated stallion stepped forward and bowed, "Good afternoon, Mayor Mare." said Zenith, "It's a pleasure to meet the Mayor of this great town."

"Goodness! Friendly and well mannered?" Mayor Mare giggles a bit, "Why I believe you'll get along just fine with everypony here."

"My thoughts exactly." Twilight smiled.

Seeing Zenith being so polite made Rarity's heart aflutter again, and she blushed faintly while smiling softly. Of course it didn't go unnoticed for Applejack smirks at the white Unicorn, who in turn realizes that the orange Earth pony caught her in the act and glances away trying to hide her blush to little success.

"So, what is it you wanted to see me about?" asked Mayor Mare.

"I simply seek your opinion, and yours alone," Zenith stated, "on which house in Ponyville to move into."

Mayor Mare is a bit confused at the request, "My opinion? Well, normally we have one of our employees take care of that."

"With all due respect, Mayor Mare," said Zenith, "I know you don't make your position such a big deal, but it would be reassuring to witness you emphasising the importance of your role in this town. It doesn't matter if it's big or small, everypony here has faith in the pony holding the title of Mayor because they count on him or her to tell them what is best for everypony even in the most dire of situations."

Silence.

That is the immediate response to Zenith's statement, along with the wide-eyed looks from most of the mares, Twilight and her friends and Mayor Mare in the room. Despite the staring he is receiving, Zenith kept his sincere and smiling face. Eventually, sniffing is heard, and all eyes are on Mayor Mare, whose tears well up in her eyes as she smiles widely and her hoof is up to her chin.

"My word. That's the most nicest thing anypony's said to me." Mayor Mare lifted her eyeglasses up a bit with her hoof while wiping the tears from her eyes at the same time. "Alright. Follow me, if you please. I think I may have some suggestions that may be to your liking."

Mayor Mare turns around and motions the others to follow her. Zenith does so, and Twilight and her friends regain their composure and follow him, though they are still in awe of what Zenith said, mostly Rarity.

"Did you hear all what Zenith just said?" Rainbow Dash asked they followed Mayor Mare, "It sounded as awesome and deep as the Wonderbolts' pep talks!"

"Ah hear ya," Applejack agreed, "It was like a bunch' a deep red ripe apples used ta make the best apple pie."

"Or the best cider!" Dash added.

"What'd you think, Rarity?" Applejack asked the dumbstruck white Unicorn, and smirked at her state, "Hey, lover gal, ya there?"

"Huh?" Rarity snapped back to reality and sees Applejack and Rainbow Dash looking at her, the former smirking and the latter raising her eyebrow in confusion. "What is it?"

"Was that hunk a stallion's speech that inspirational?" Applejack stated, keeping her smirking face.

Rarity then realizes what Applejack was talking about, "Oh, goodness! Um, yes, I believe it sounded, pretty divine."

"Don't ya mean, 'very'?" said Applejack.

"What? What's up with Rarity?" Rainbow Dash questioned the orange Earth pony.

"Ya didn't notice?" Applejack leaned close to Dash's ear to whisper a little loud enough to her, "Rarity's got a crush on Zenith."

"Applejack!" Rarity hushed as her cheeks are coloured pink, "You shouldn't assume something so trivial!"

"Ah didn't assume, Ah figured it out." Applejack countered while shrugging.

Rainbow Dash then figured out what Applejack said to her. "Oh. I get it, sorta," she said, "Normally you'd woo other stallions, but I don't think this happened the other way around before."

"But he didn't do anything of the sort!" Rarity chided, "At least not yet, aside from looking presentable and being so well mannered and- Ugh!" Rarity rubbed her forehead with her hoof a bit, "Let's just save it for another time, alright?"

"Okay, we get it," Applejack chuckled a bit, "Ah did promise not to push this further."

Rarity simply looked ahead trying to get her mind on other things. But no matter how much she did, her mind simply wandered to the silver coated stallion walking ever so adamantly ahead of her.

Soon, they all are in a different room. "Here we are." Mayor Mare turned around and pointed to the large map behind her, "This map shows all of Ponyville presented in the most simplest of ways. From houses, to shopping spots, to entertainment stages, you name it."

Zenith notices a picture of a castle at the top left corner of the map. "What of that castle? The one stationed at the corner of Ponyville?" he asked.

"That's the Castle of Friendship." Twilight explained, "It is where me and my friends spread the meaning of Friendship across Equestria."

"Really? That must be a lot of responsibility to take on." Zenith said.

"Please! Twilight and her five friends, me included, represent the Elements of Harmony!" Rainbow Dash bragged, "There's no friendship problem in Equestria we can't solve!"

"Anyway, back to what we are talking about," said Twilight, "There's plenty of houses that are always available to new ponies, so whatever suggestions we have are up to you."

"Indeed." Mayor Mare agreed, "Whether it is nearby the lake or close to a group of trees, that house will be suitable to your standards."

Zenith then notices something in the middle of the map that didn't seem right to him. "Hold on. Where's that tree that had that library in it?" he pointed to the map. "It was where my granny and I went to stock on school supplies when I was young."

"Oh? The Golden Oak Library?" Mayor Mare nervously chuckled, "Well, certain circumstances happened, which resulted in the maps of Ponyville getting updated."

"What circumstances?" Zenith asked. He then sees Twilight and Spike looking a bit uneasy.

"It's kind of a long story," Spike said, rubbing the back of his head with his claw, "but to summarize it..."

* * *

...

"WWWHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTT?!"

That outburst rang out inside the town hall, loud enough for the startled ponies outside and close to it to hear. Then, the doors flew open, and a silver coated stallion galloped out of there with a look of fright and concern on his face. He galloped straight ahead, and six mares and a little dragon followed suit.

"Zenith, wait!" Twilight called out, "It isn't that bad!"

"If he's that scared as a couple of pigs running around the barn, it must be so ta him!" Applejack reasoned.

"He did say it was his second time being in Ponyville!" Spike stated as he was riding on Starlight's back.

"Whatever the case, the poor dear's upset!" Rarity said, "We must console him as we do for each other!"

The others nodded in agreement and followed Zenith. Mayor Mare stepped out of the doors of the town hall looking ahead. Despite being startled by Zenith's outburst, she felt sorry and concerned for the stallion.

It wasn't long before Zenith ran out of the town hall, for he slowed down a bit and stopped in the middle of the town. Most ponies noticed him breathing hard and wondered what his deal is, though he paid no mind to it. Zenith looks down at the ground in front of him and sees that it is a little uneven with the rest of the ground. He puts his hoof on that ground. At that moment, tears welled up in his eyes. Zenith slumped down on his haunches and lowered his head. Soft sobbing and unsteady breathing came from the eyes and mouth of the silver coated stallion, which attracted the attention of most of the ponies around.

Twilight and her friends caught up to him and noticed him feeling down. Twilight then walks up to Zenith's side and puts her hoof on his shoulder. "Zenith, are you okay?" she asks softly.

Zenith slowly raises his head a bit as he continues his soft crying. "The Golden Oak Library," he said, trying to keep it together, "it was the first of many places that interested me. The many books that caught my eye, the atmosphere it brought forth, it was like a new world, one that I would set hoof on without a single doubt holding me back."

He then looks up to the sky, and Twilight sees wide-eyed to her concern that many tears flowed slowly down Zenith's cheeks. "To now see the empty space where it used to stand, it's like a piece of my heart got crushed by an unexpected and unseen force." Zenith sniffed. Spike went to his other side looking sadly at him.

"Still, I do want to know," Zenith looked at Twilight in a grief stricken manner, "who, or what, destroyed the Golden Oak Library?"

The other mares looked on in sincere sympathy for Zenith, even Rarity most of all. Seeing the silver coated stallion's sad face tugged at the white Unicorn's heart, in a guilty manner.

"Like Spike said, it's a long story," Twilight spoke, "and we wouldn't want to ruin your mood of settling in into Ponyville."

"That's alright," Zenith shook his head, "I have all the time in the world."

Starlight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity only gave each other uneasy looks.

* * *

Tartarus. A realm underneath Equestria where everything is unpleasant. It is where evil creatures and untamed animals are imprisoned, guarded by a three-headed dog named Cerberus. The realm consists of stone walls and stone pillars having long staircases leading up to a circle where various shackles and prison cages are placed for the imprisoned. The most highest pillar, where even Cerberus makes occasional watches at its base, is where the most evil creature is caged.

A weak and old centaur named Lord Tirek.

The centaur has light lime greenish gray hooves with amberish gray clefts, a dark cobalt bluish gray lower body and a dark sapphire bluish gray upper body, a dark grayish scarlet skin, an indigoish gray beard and tail, a pair of small dark azuerish gray horns on his head, and black eyes with light brilliant yellow pupils. He is wearing a silver collar around his upper body from his shoulders and has a ring pierced inside his nose. On his wrists are special shackles preventing him from harnessing his magic.

Tirek looks bored yet silently seething in anger of his defeat. "Curse that Twilight Sparkle and her friends." he said in a rough and low voice, "I wanted to absorb all the magic of the ponies and the princesses of Equestria and become the most powerful creature to ever exist." Tirek then holds two of the bars in front of him and grips them in anger, "But that wretched Alicorn and her pathetic subjects defeated me with this so called 'magic of friendship'. It makes me absolutely livid just thinking about it!"

The centaur lets go of the bars and tugs at the shackles while he grunts in frustration, "If I ever get released from these bindings, I'll make Twilight Sparkle suffer much worse than what this realm did to me!"

Just then, a cackling and maniacal laughter echoes throughout the realm, alerting Tirek and making Cerberus taking position and growling. "Oh, I believe that will happen sooner than you think!" that voice declared.

Suddenly, a dark green aura envelops Cerberus who is surprised and caught off guard. To Tirek's shock, Cerberus is quickly flung towards a wall and crashes into it, so hard the impact knocked the three-headed dog out. Tirek then sees dark green smoke swirling in front of him outside the cage, and to his surprise, the smoke disappears to reveal a sight the centaur grimaced at it.

Before Tirek stands a thin Unicorn stallion whose whole body looks to be in critical condition, like this pony never attempted to take care of himself at all. Two of his hooves are cracked, his horn is crooked, his left ear appears to be ripped apart, his teeth are as brown as a puddle of mud, and there is no tail on his bottom. The stallion has a medium gray coat, a deep green mane on his head with a big very light green streak going down his other part of his mane behind his head, and dark green eyes.

"Oh, that was funny! Did you see that? That mutt was like, 'wut?' and then, crash! Critical knock out by a wall!" The seemingly unhealthy Unicorn cackled some more until he coughed a few times. Tirek looks at the pony in discomfort.

"And who are you to brazenly approach me, knowing that I am a danger to your kind?" Tirek asks.

The Unicorn then breathes normally and looks up to Tirek in a smug look, "First off, I am Ryzoth. Second, I have lost all faith in the ponies of Equestria due to some major things that screwed up my former life. That lands us on the same page, if you catch my drift."

"Then what do you want?" Tirek growled.

"Let me start over first." Ryzoth cleared his throat, "Greetings, 'Lord' Tirek," he said 'Lord' in a mocking manner that didn't go unnoticed by the annoyed centaur, "I am Ryzoth, and I am here on behalf of my master who is amazed at what you accomplished by bringing those ponies down to their barrels."

"And who is your master?" asks Tirek.

"If I told you it wouldn't be a secret, otherwise he'd do things of the shuddering sort to those who disobey him." Ryzoth explained, "But, what I can tell you, is that he wishes to make an alliance with you."

"I already had an alliance." Tirek stated, "Until I betrayed him by absorbing his magic."

"Don't get ahead of yourself there," said Ryzoth, "if you agree to be a part of my master's alliance, he will grant you the power to put those ponies in their place."

"Power?" Tirek raised his eyebrow as that word got his attention.

"Yes, power," Ryzoth repeated that word, "I'm sure you have somepony in mind that you want to finish off for ruining your fun. If you accept my master's offer, you can have a chance to get your revenge on those ponies. What do you say? Are you in, or are you out?"

Tirek ponders on the offer. For a long time he wanted revenge on the princesses for imprisoning him in Tartarus, and recently he wants revenge on Twilight and her friends for defeating him. If he accepts this pony's master's proposal, would Tirek satisfy his thirst for vengeance?

With a sigh, Tirek looks at Ryzoth. "Alright, little pony," he says, "If you can get me out of this cursed cage and these shackles, I will join your master's alliance."

Ryzoth squealed in a rough manner, which Tirek finds unsettling. "A wise choice you made!" Ryzoth said, "And duh! Getting you out of here is what I planned to do if you accepted my master's offer! And you did, so I'll be getting to it now!"

The Unicorn lit up his horn in a dark green aura, and a magic circle appears underneath the cage. "What is this sorcery?" demanded Tirek.

"Keep your skin on, I'm gonna get you out of that cage!" Ryzoth shot back, "It just needs some time to get through the magic the cage has whipped up. And considering that I knocked out that mutt, it would take less than an hour for him to wake up. So, I better get cracking."

Ryzoth then focuses on his spell. The centaur sighs impatiently.

'I hope I've made the right decision,' thought Tirek, 'otherwise this pony's master will pay for crossing Lord Tirek.'

* * *

At an open grassy field, Twilight, Spike, Starlight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Zenith are gathered around nearby a tree. Twilight has explained to Zenith what happened to the Golden Oak Library, and the latter has a mixed expression on what he has been told.

"Let me get this straight," Zenith rubbed his forehead with his hoof solemnly and looks back at Twilight, "This centaur calling himself 'Lord Tirek' escaped Tartarus and absorbed all of the ponies' magic, and while he was after you, he blasted the Golden Oak Library to smithereens, and you and your friends avenged it by defeating Tirek with the magic from a chest that later transformed into that castle which looks similar to that library?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much it, if you don't want to bring in all the details." Rainbow Dash confirmed.

"It is sad that the library that I considered to be home is gone," Twilight said, "but my friends helped bringing in the roots of the library and decorated a part of the Castle of Friendship, so that it would feel like home."

Zenith narrowed his eyebrows as he looked at the ground. "Well, taking away magic is one thing." he said, "But taking away the right to learn? That centaur crossed that line by destroying that library." Zenith looked back up, his expression softening a bit, "Thus, he is not worthy of being called Lord."

"What do ya mean by that, sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

"There's been moments in history where creatures and beings that do bad things are granted titles and epithets." explained Zenith, "But doing evil things while you have a royal title is sickening. What Tirek did is no exception."

Rarity's eyes widen a bit at the opinion Zenith gave, and her cheeks flushed faintly pink. But she recomposed herself and cleared her throat. "Well, that's an interesting way to look at things," she stated, "but I believe we have enough gloomy thoughts floating about, wouldn't all of you say?"

"That's right. We're here to make Zenith feel welcome in Ponyville." Twilight smiled, "And that first step is to help Zenith find a house to move into."

Then, a gurgling noise is heard, loud enough for everypony to hear. "What was that?" Spike looked around alarmed, "A Parasprite horde?"

That gurgling happened again, and all eyes are on Zenith, who looks at his barrel and feels it with his hoof. Blushing, Zenith scratched the back of his head with his hoof. "Sounds like my tummy's rumbling." he chuckled, "Guess walking all the way over here can whip up an appetite."

Seeing the silver coated stallion being flustered in that manner made Rarity's cheeks flush pink again. But this time, she smiled softly, for seeing Zenith like that made him...cute.

"Well, it's nearly lunchtime, so finding a house can wait." Rainbow Dash declared, "Wanna hit a restaurant?"

"Actually, I'm in the mood for any kind of apple recipe." said Zenith, "I read that Ponyville got founded when a group of Earth ponies found a way of making a special kind of jam. But the name of the place where it happened fled my mind, to be honest."

Applejack's face gleamed in happiness. "Well, look no further, sugarcube!" she exclaimed, "Ah'm a part of that group that built the Sweet Apple Acres farm, so if it's apples ya like, Ah'll treat ya to plenty of my Granny's recipes."

"Can we come along?" asked Spike.

"The more, the merrier!" Applejack responded.

"I see nothing wrong with that." Twilight stated.

"Then lets head to Sweet Apple Acres!" Rainbow Dash declared.

They then walk to the destination of the farm. As they walked, Starlight noticed something...familiar about Zenith. It seemed to her that his whole figure matched the silhouettes shown in her visions she abruptly had.

"Starlight?"

"Huh? What?" Starlight noticed Spike looking at her worried.

"Something wrong?" Spike asked.

"Uh, it's nothing." Starlight shook her head reassuringly.

"If you say so." Spike responded, still worried for his friend.

Rarity at that time kept her gaze at Zenith. Sure his face having that flair of happiness and politeness made her stomach flutter like butterflies, but Rarity is concerned that Zenith is still sad about what happened to the Golden Oak Library and is attempting to hide it.

Maybe once they are done giving Zenith the welcoming event, Rarity can show him the roots hanging from the roof of the throne room. That's the thought Rarity had as she and her friends lead Zenith to Sweet Apple Acres.

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

 **Sorry for making you wait this long. I was busy helping my family**

 **set up a new home for my sister. Enjoy. :)**


	16. Chapter 15

**I am terribly sorry for making you wait this long. Between watching videos and playing video games,**

 **my writer's block usually comes and goes. And since I got back to going to collage since its drama courses are back,**

 **this story may get updated even more slower then the few months you have waited. Also, this chapter is more**

 **longer then the last few ones because I figured I should put double the amount of words into my future chapters.**

 **Hope you like it. :)**

* * *

It wasn't long before Twilight Sparkle and her friends led Zenith to the farm where the sweet apples are harvested. After walking up a hill, Applejack turned to Zenith smiling and waved her hoof to the farm.

"Well, here we are, sugarcube!" Applejack happily announced, "Welcome ta Sweet Apple Acres!"

Looking to where Applejack is pointing, Zenith's eyes widen in amazement. Not only were there plenty of farm equipment placed neatly around the place, but there is white painted fences, a farm house with a barn connected to it, and lots and lots of apple orchards seen for miles beside the farm.

"This is where the Apple family does the simple farm work of harvestin' fruits and vegetables, including apples," Applejack explained, "and it is as ya said, the place where Ponyville came to be. What 'cha think?"

Zenith smiled, still in awe of what he sees. Rarity finds his amazed face so divine, even more so with the light from the sun shining down on it. This made her blush mildly and glance away smiling a goofy smile.

"By the forces above." Zenith muttered out loud, "Chester would love to see this."

"Who?" Applejack raised her eyebrow as her friends gathered.

"Who's Chester?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Zenith notices that the mares and the baby dragon looked at him in confusion. "Oh. Sorry," he apologized, "I didn't mention this when we met. During my travels I met a little colt and four other stallions, and we've been good friends since I helped them out."

"Is Chester one of those friends?" asked Twilight.

"Yeah, the stallions' names are Chester, Pebble, Tranquil, Ace, and the colt's is Meteo." Zenith answered.

"I guess you're already satisfied having those friends?" Starlight inquired. Twilight looked at her pupil with minor suspicion in response.

"P-heh! As if!" Zenith mildly exclaimed while making an exaggerated face for a second, "It's like the saying goes, 'the circle of friendship always has room for anypony to join.'"

Twilight's eyes lit up at what Zenith said. "That sounds like a good friendship lesson!" she said, then she turned to the dragon, "Spike, remind me to take note of that phrase."

"Righto." Spike mockingly saluted.

"Hey!" Applejack pointed to the farm house. "It's Big Mac!"

The ponies and Spike look to the path of the farm house where a large and well built stallion walks to them. He has a brilliant amaranth coat, light yellowish grey hooves, a brilliant orange mane and tail, and moderate sap green eyes. He is wearing a light brown yoke and has a cutie mark of a green apple sliced in half.

"A relative of yours?" Zenith inquired.

"Sure is, sugarcube." Applejack replied.

The big stallion approached the ponies, and Applejack came up to him. "Hey, big bro," she greeted him, "Ya came back after helpin' Braeburn with settin' up things in Appleloosa?"

"Eeyup." Big Mac said in a similar accent to Applejack's.

"Well, you're just in time to meet a newcomer," Applejack waved her hoof to Zenith, "Big Macintosh, this is Zenith, a new pony that arrived today. Zenith, meet my big brother, Big Macintosh. Big Mac for short."

"Hello, Big Mac." Zenith bowed his head politely to the red stallion, "Are you in charge of this farm?"

"Nope." Big Mac simply said.

"Actually, Granny Smith is in charge of things here." Applejack smiled, "Me and Big Mac help with the harvestin' and chores."

"Really?" Zenith raised his eyebrow.

"Eeyup." Big Mac replied.

"Big Mac's pretty soft spoken," Applejack chuckled, "but he's a nice guy when ya get ta know him."

"You mean...Big Mac stopped being talkative?" asked Zenith.

Applejack and Big Mac are a little surprised at Zenith's unusual deductive question.

"Hey! Enough of the meet and greet stuff!" Rainbow Dash said as she hovered in the air, "Are we gonna get some lunch or what? We're nearly starving here!"

"Okay, Rainbow," Twilight rolled her eyes, "We did come here for lunch after all."

"Oh, yes, I am in dire need of a bite to eat." said Rarity.

"Let's head to the farmhouse." Applejack declared.

By the time they headed up to the farmhouse, they see an old mare sitting near the corner of it having a stern look on her face.

"Granny Smith!" Applejack called.

Granny Smith looked up and sees the ponies and Spike. "Oh! Applejack, Big Mac! And their youngin' friends." She smiled as they met up, "Ah take it Big Mac's done helpin' Braeburn at Appleloosa?"

"Eeyup." said Big Mac.

"Big Mac returned a few minutes ago," Applejack explained, "and we are here to have some lunch, if it's not too much trouble."

"Oh, not at all. Ah'd be glad to whip up some of my best apple pies and apple fritters for our guests." Granny Smith then notices Zenith. "Who's the new fella?"

"This here is Zenith, a new pony that just arrived today," Applejack introduced, "Zenith, this is Granny Smith, the pony Ah was telling ya about."

"Hello, ma'am," Zenith bowed his head, "I've been told you are in charge of Sweet Apple Acres, is that right?"

"Darn-tootin'!" Granny Smith affirmed, "And still doing that for the last few decades."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Smith." Zenith said.

"Hey, the pleasure's all mine, and there's no need for that kind of formality," Granny Smith chuckled, "just 'Granny Smith' is fine."

"I understand clearly, Granny Smith." nodded the silver coated stallion, "You know, you remind me of my grandmother."

"Do Ah, now? Is she old lookin', but not as old lookin' as me?" Granny Smith inquired.

"She was alive and still kicking, as she likes to say so," Zenith replied, then his face changed to a sad one, "but when her ninth decade on this world almost ended...she moved on to a better one."

"Oh. Mah condolences to your granny, sonny." comforted Granny Smith.

"Much obliged." Zenith smiled.

"Say, where's the Cutie Mark Crusaders?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking around.

"Who?" Zenith is confused about that group name, and he nearly makes a 'hoot' impression, which Spike notices.

"Oh, just mah sister, Apple Bloom and her friends Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle," Applejack explained, "though Ah too wonder where they are."

"They are servin' their punishment, that's what they're doin'." Granny Smith replied.

"Punishment?" Rarity repeated, "Whatever for?"

"For wandering into the Everfree Forest by themselves." Granny Smith answers.

"WHAT?!" Applejack, Big Mac, Rainbow Dash and Rarity shouted in surprise and concern.

"How did that happen?" Twilight asks.

"Uh, Twilight?" Spike spoke up, gaining Twilight's and other ponies attention, "Me and Starlight heard from Zecora what happened."

"It's true." Starlight affirmed, "She was at the Castle of Friendship yesterday explaining how they got attacked by a cragadile."

"Did they do something to provoke it?" Applejack asked, narrowing her eyes.

"No, it simply attacked them, out of the blue." Spike explained, "Then Zecora said that a pony saved them by scaring the cragadile off."

The other ponies aside from Zenith gave surprised looks at the thought of a pony intimidating a cragadile. "That part is a little far-fetched." Dash said, "Though it does sound pretty cool."

'Oh, you have no idea.' Zenith thought, smirking a little.

"And who was that brave pony?" Rarity asks.

"Zecora didn't say," replied Starlight, "You'll have to ask her for more detail."

"Was there something else she wanted?" asked Twilight.

"Zecora wanted to find some research on why that cragadile chased the Crusaders for no reason or so it seems." Starlight answered, "Me and Spike helped her, but we didn't come across anything at all."

"So I suggested that we find that information at the old library Twilight and I used to stay at in Canterlot." Spike added.

"Hmm, that is mysterious and concerning." Twilight held her chin in ponder, "I can do that the next time I'm in Canterlot."

"So where are the Crusaders now?" Applejack asks Granny Smith.

Before the elderly mare can answer, a sudden scream was heard.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

"That was Sweetie Belle!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Look!" Rainbow Dash pointed her hoof to the northern area of the farm.

In the distance, on a trail with apple trees on its sides, three fillies, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle are running from a creature where various branches and logs are formed together to make a vicious looking canine, and it's eyes glow a yellowish green color as two leaves serve as its eyebrows. It is chasing the three fillies and is gaining on them as they scream in horror.

"A timberwolf!" cried Spike.

"Hang on, ya gals!" called Applejack, "We'll save-"

ZOOM!

They notice Zenith running towards the fillies as fast as he could, and he dropped his bag and case beforehoof.

"Is he crazy?!" Rainbow Dash yelled.

The timberwolf started to gain on Sweetie Belle, and as she looked back she is more frightened, leading her to lose her pace. Zenith notices this and runs to the right. Then, he jumps sideways, lands on the trunk of an apple tree and jumps sideways off of it, brings his front legs out, and catches Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo before the timberwolf could pounce on them.

Then, crossing his hooves while keeping the three fillies in his front leg's grasp, Zenith grabs onto a thin yet sturdy trunk of another apple tree, swings himself forward, and releases at the right angle while turning himself around. Zenith then lands on the ground with his back hooves while holding onto the three frightened fillies. The timberwolf turns around and charges at Zenith.

"Look out!" shouted Twilight.

"Not my little sister!" Rarity cried.

Then, as the timberwolf made its pounce towards Zenith...

WAPOW!

Zenith jumps and spins to his right bringing his back right leg up and knocks down the timberwolf on its head hard to the ground. Then, before anypony could hold their breath, Zenith brings his other back leg to the corner of the timberwolf's mouth, shoving his back hoof into its mouth, and back flips while lifting up the timberwolf by its head with his back legs.

Time nearly comes to a standstill, as everypony at the farm watches in surprise, concern and horror, the moment transpiring before their eyes. Zenith, while holding the three fillies in his front legs, is halfway through his back flip while carrying the timberwolf into the air. Time then resumes, and in an instant...

CRASH!

Zenith completes his back flip, letting go of the timberwolf while smacking it down to the ground and lands safely on his back legs. Apparently as the timberwolf got up, it seems to be afraid of the pony who beat it up, so it turned tail and ran in the opposite direction.

"Yeah, you better run, ya wooden mutt!" Zenith shouted, "If I see you chasing young ponies again, your head won't be the only thing smashed by my hard hooves!" He lifted his left back hoof up to prove his point. Seeing that the timberwolf disappeared over the hill, Zenith turned around and set the three fillies on the ground.

As they get up on their hooves, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle look at Zenith in awe. "Are you girls alright?" he asks softly.

"Uh, yeah, we're um, we're alright." Apple Bloom answers, she and her friends still shaken up about what happened. As that was going on, Sweetie Belle looked at Zenith in awe, and for some reason there's something familiar about him, she just can't put her hoof on it. But what's more surprising, is that she finds Zenith so very handsome, which makes her blush a little bit.

The group at the farm came up to the three fillies and the silver coated stallion, bearing awed looks as well. Zenith looks up at them, and after a second or two, Rainbow Dash speaks, "That, was, awesome!" Then they cheered for Zenith, while the three fillies are a little confused at what is going on.

"Way to go, Zenith!" exclaimed Starlight.

"You girls alright?" Applejack asks the three fillies.

"Right as rain, I think." replied Apple Bloom, "We were picking up some apples for Granny Smith when suddenly that timberwolf leaped out of nowhere."

"We got scared by it and turned tail," Scootaloo added, "which allowed the timberwolf to start chasing us."

"We would've been timberwolf lunch if this stallion hadn't saved us in the nick of time." Apple Bloom turned to Zenith, "So thanks a bunch, mister."

"Call me Zenith," corrected the silver coated stallion, "and I'm just glad to help."

Applejack puts her hoof on Zenith's shoulder. "Sugarcube, I'm as grateful as a hen relieved ta see her chicks safe and sound," she smiled, "ya have mah thanks for savin' my little sister and her friends."

"Mine, too!" added Granny Smith.

"Eeyup." Big Mac nodded.

Rarity then nearly tackled Zenith and hugged him, almost knocking Applejack out of the way. "Ooh, Zenny-Wenny!" she snuggled the bewildered silver coated stallion's face, "Words don't come close to the feelings I have when you saved my sister! Thank you so very much!"

The other ponies are a little shocked at Rarity hugging Zenith, though Applejack smirks at the scene. But in a certain little dragon, certain feelings arose. For a few seconds Spike is wide eyed at the gorgeous mare he'd ever known hugging a new stallion in town, then he narrows his eyes while clenching his claws. None of the ponies noticed Spike's jealous demeanour, and if they did, they would've understood how he is feeling.

"Uh, Zenny-Wenny?" Zenith is confused by that nickname. Rarity suddenly opens her eyes and notices how close she is to the stallion she is hugging. Blushing heavily, she releases her front legs off of Zenith and giggles a bit.

"Pardon me, darling, but I can be a little dramatic when I express myself." Rarity explained.

"Don't you mean a lot?" Rainbow Dash chuckled, earning a huffed glare from the white unicorn.

"Well, you're welcome." Zenith said, "It's what I do."

"Where'd you learn those cool karate moves anyway?" Dash asked.

"From a certain master of the arts." replied Zenith.

"And who is this master of yours?" asked Twilight.

"Sorry, can't tell." Zenith shook his head, "But I can give you a hint: she prefers to remain anonymous until the time is right."

"Huh. For a second I thought he'd start with 'he.'" Spike muttered in confusion as he scratched his head.

"Anyway, I'm humbled that you are grateful for what I did," Zenith then turns his attention to the three fillies tip-hoofing to the barn and says out loud, "but that doesn't let some certain fillies off the hook just yet."

The Crusaders freeze in their tracks as the group looks at them. "Oh yeah, Ah was wonderin' about that." said Applejack, then she walks up to the fillies giving them a stern look, "Ah heard from Granny Smith about that punishment for going to the Everfree Forest by yourselves and Starlight and Spike filled us in on the details. Care to explain why?"

The fillies smiled nervously, then Apple Bloom spoke up, "It's mah fault. When you and your friends went to the Crystal Empire to see Twilight's niece, I talked Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle into going to Zecora's hut by ourselves," she paused to rub her leg, "because I thought that since the three of us got our Cutie Marks, that makes us fully pledged big ponies who can handle any danger."

"Well, ain't that a familiar tune. Even though you three got your Cutie Marks, you are still young ponies." Applejack pointed at the three fillies, "Foolish decisions can cost you greatly, walking into a dangerous forest by yourselves is no exception. Ya'll do well to remember that. Clear?"

"Clear." the Crusaders mumbled, looking down in shame.

As Zenith sees Applejack scolding the fillies, his eyes widened a bit when something clicked in his mind about the farm and its family. "Say, Applejack?" he walked up to the orange coated mare as she turned her attention to him, "You said before that Apple Bloom is your sister, right?"

"Yeah?" Applejack answered, eyebrow raised at the simple question, "Why do ya ask that?"

"Well, forgive me for asking this next question in advance, and if you feel uncomfortable answering it then I won't press it further," Zenith cautioned, "but...if you, Apple Bloom, Big Mac and Granny Smith make up the family living on this farm...then...where's your mother and father?"

Applejack is taken aback a little by that question, yet she sees the concerned and patient yet apologetic look on Zenith's face. She then looks at Big Mac and Granny Smith, the former who shares her feelings on the matter and the latter raising her eyebrow in a stern manner. The rest of her friends look a little puzzled. Applejack then looks at Apple Bloom, who nods a little.

"Well, since you are respecting our feelings on this, Ah guess it wouldn't hurt to tell ya this much." Applejack sighed, "Mah mom was unable to handle the pain from giving birth to Apple Bloom, and as a result...she kicked the bucket." she looked down sadly as she continued to lament, "This left mah dad so depressed, more so than the rest of mah family, that he decided to leave the farm to search for something to help us remember mom, and not come back until he sends a letter stating he will. Unfortunately, not long after mah dad left something unexpected happened, and a friend of mah dad came over to bring the sad news. He said that dad had an accident...making him kick the bucket too."

Applejack closes her eyes as she finished the tale of her parent's fates. Zenith, along with a few ponies and the little dragon in the group are shocked to hear it.

"Whoa, that's deep." Spike said, astonished.

"That's the first time I've heard anything about Applejack's parents." Twilight added.

"Me, too." replied Starlight.

"I had no idea you lost your parents, Apple Bloom." Sweetie Belle said.

"That's okay. I never really got to know my parents aside from hearing about them from my sister." the amaranth haired filly sniffed.

"I would say 'welcome to the orphan club', but that would be pushing it, wouldn't it?" Scootaloo wondered.

Apple Bloom looked at Scootaloo with a deadpanned yet stern face. "Yeah, a lot." she replied.

Zenith could see the sadness on Applejack's face, then he looks at his scarf, and at Apple Bloom. "Darn." he mumbled. He then walked up to Apple Bloom and sat on his haunches, lowering his head a bit to be at eye level with the filly. "Apple Bloom? I'm deeply sorry for your loss of your parents."

"It's alright." Apple Bloom replied, "But as I said, I didn't get to know them."

"I'm in that same boat as you are."

Apple Bloom looked up at Zenith, surprised by his response. "Really?" she asked.

"Yes." Zenith continued, "You see, when my grandma took me in, she took care of me like any mother would. She did a good job at it...until that moment when her time came." he held the end of the scarf up with his hoof, "Before she passed on, she gave me this scarf. She explained she gave it to my mother so that she can give it to my father as a wedding present, but something happened to my mother, so much so that my father disappeared and my grandma always wore it to remind herself of her daughter, my mother that is. She then told me that I should do the same thing for her and my mother, along with not to be regretful of not knowing my parents, but to be grateful to them."

"Grateful for what?" asked Apple Bloom.

"...For bringing me into this world."

The group that gathered around Zenith and the Crusaders felt various emotions on Zenith's tale about his parents and grandmother. Rainbow Dash smirked a bit, being impressed that Zenith held in there through all that pain. Applejack, Big Mac and Granny Smith smiled softly, accepting Zenith's sympathy and apology.

Rarity tried to hold her tears back, not wanting to make a scene, but being awed at Zenith for showing such concern for anypony and hearing more of his background was making it difficult, not to mention her newly blossomed feelings for him growing stronger. The rest of the group is awed at Zenith's endurance of the events he faced.

"Say, Zenith?" Granny Smith spoke up.

"Yes?" Zenith replied.

"Considerin' that ya saved mah granddaughter and talkin' about your own granny and parentin' folk, Ah think ya earned an apple pie for your efforts." said Granny Smith, "That is what ya came here for, right?"

"Oh, yeah." Zenith chuckled, "Driving off that timberwolf made me more hungry than usual."

"Come on then, everypony!" Applejack called out, "Them apple pies won't be baking themselves!"

"Can we help, too?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Well, Ah suppose ya can," Applejack replied, "but that means you'll only get one slice of the pie. It's what you'll get for going into the Everfree Forest after all."

"Eeyup." Big Mac added.

"Nuts." Scootaloo muttered.

The group then laughed a bit, until Granny Smith asked, "Say, what became of your two other friends, Pinkie and Fluttershy?"

They stopped short of laughing and felt uneasy. "Well," Spike started, "Pinkie went off to do the 'thing' since she was introduced to Zenith, but Fluttershy..."

"Alright, say no more." Granny Smith waved her hoof, "Ya'll can tell us everything once that apple pie get's bakin'. Now let's get rollin'!"

Despite the elderly mare's 'understanding', the group nonetheless followed her to the farmhouse.

* * *

At the badlands, in another part of the large cave, various clashing noises are heard as a red glow illuminates faintly and quickly across the cavern walls. Azerrad, the dark coated stallion, crashes into the wall and slumps to the ground, holding the magical red aura covered white blade in his hoof. Then, a gruff and monotone voice is heard, which Azerrad grunts at.

"Hmm, getting sloppy, my brother?"

Another stallion emerges from the shadows. He is an Earth Pony with a pure red coat, a large neat white and gray mane and tail, and a pair of light gray eyes. He is holding a white halberd, having a black coated spear at the bottom end, and a black coated axe at the top. His expression on his face seem emotionless.

"No way, Vohrnil." Azerrad replied as he got up, "You just caught me off guard, that's all."

"Hmm, your arrogance has blinded you, it seems." Vohrnil said.

"What would you know?!" yelled Azerrad.

"You assumed that you are stronger than your opponents." Vohrnil raises his halberd to look at it, "Hmm, yet you failed to see that there will always be future opponents, more stronger than you." he then looks at Azerrad, "You have forgotten that lesson. Thus, Father has seen it wise to ask me to remind you of that," Vohrnil then smiles widely while keeping his emotionless eyes intact, which looks very frightening and uneasy, "hmm, so I will enjoy watching you being frustrated at your failed attempts to defeat me."

"ENJOY THIS!" Azerrad charges at Vohrnil, holding his magic blade up high. He swings it down on Vohrnil, but the red stallion dodges to his left. Vohrnil then lunges the spear end of his halberd at Azerrad, but he deflects the attempt with his blade.

Back and forth they go, dodging each other's attacks while attempting to land a blow on the other. Eventually, Vohrnil started going on the offensive, and Azerrad deflects most of the swings and stabs. Then Azerrad starts to push back, and...

SLASH!

The halberd is flung into the air spinning until the axe part lands into the ground. Vohrnil expressionlessly sees that Azerrad has his blade at the right side of his neck, threatening to slice it then and there. "Hmm, not bad. But your technique still needs work." Vohrnil stated.

"Hmph." Azerrad released his hold on his blade as it disappeared from his hoof, "If I had a more worthy opponent, I can refine my technique just fine."

"If you killed me then and there, Father might be just the perfect worthy opponent for you, if that's what your aim is for, hmm?" Vohrnil smirked.

"Sometimes I don't know how you can stay so emotionless yet smile so viciously." Azerrad said.

"Hmm, I told you, I find it fun torturing the innocents' minds before breaking their spirits." Vohrnil replied.

Then, Azerrad's and Vohrnil's eyes lit up, and they turn their heads to the cavern exit, for they sense something over there. "Hmm, it seems Ryzoth has returned." Vohrnil said.

"Who did he recruit this time?" wondered Azerrad.

"Let's find out, hmm?" Vohrnil chuckled as he walk to the exit, with Azerrad following behind frowning.

When they got out of that little cave to their master's throne lair, they are surprised to see a frail looking centaur standing beside Ryzoth. The centaur looks around the cave, noticing the Changelings who are still trying to take care of their unconscious queen is now being intimidated by him, and Azerrad and Vohrnil.

"Well? Where is your master?" Tirek glares at the gray coated stallion.

"Huh. Maybe he is taking care of some personal stuff." Ryzoth notices Azerrad and Vohrnil, "Hey guys, have you seen Dad?"

"Hmm, not since he told me to train Azerrad." Vohrnil rubs his chin.

Azerrad gives the dirty look at Tirek, which he notices. "What are you looking at, feeble pony?" he glared at Azerrad.

"You're the new recruit Master told Ryzoth to bring here?" Azerrad snorts, "Judging from your old and frail state, I am not impressed."

"How dare you!" Tirek shouted, "I am Lord Tirek, the almighty powerful being Equestria ever feared!"

"Still not impressed." Azerrad responded sarcastically.

Ryzoth chuckled a bit, and Tirek growled at him. "You think this is amusing?!" the centaur glared at Ryzoth, "Do you also think that dragging me here to this wretched place for nothing is amusing?!"

"Hey! I got you out of Tartarus as I promised I would!" Ryzoth replied, "This isn't a prank!"

Tirek started to advance on Ryzoth, "I ought to pummel you into-"

"SILENCE!"

The cave shook from the loud voice, and everypony froze in their tracks, except for Vohrnil. Then, black smoke appears from nowhere surrounding the throne, and out of that smoke emerges a large stallion coated in black smoke and wearing a helmet. "You lay your finger on my son and I will pummel you into dust!" he bellowed at Tirek.

The centaur is frightened by the stallion standing at the throne, and being frightened is something he has never did since his young days which he notices, and he hates that feeling. "Who...w-who are you?" he asked.

"I am Dark Shadow," the stallion calmly replied, "and I am the one who requested my son, Ryzoth, to recruit you to my cause, Lord Tirek."

Still frightened, Tirek continues talking, "So, you are the master Ryzoth spoke of. He said that you would grant me power if I accept your offer of an alliance with you."

"Correct." Dark Shadow said, "I have learned about your raid on Equestria a millennia ago, and your recent one some time back. I find it most impressive."

"Hmph, not to me." Azerrad muttered. Tirek glared at the black coated stallion.

"Thus, I grant you this choice," Dark Shadow continued, "you can choose to be sent back to your homeland as a disgrace to yourself and your brethren, or you can choose to join me and my cause. With your strength, I will be one step closer to my achievement of my plans and you can have your revenge on the ponies. But to join me requires two things: you will refer to me as 'Lord Shadow', and you must swear to obey my commands until I see you unfit for my cause, or if you betray me."

Tirek is bewildered at what Dark Shadow is requesting of him. Getting revenge on the princesses of Equestria in exchange for ultimate obedience to this stranger? Various thoughts ran through the centaur's mind.

"Well? What's it gonna be, big guy?" Ryzoth smiled evilly at Tirek, "His way? Or the high way?"

Tirek feels unsure of what to do. Doing this kind of thing goes against his pride, that is for certain. But this chance of vengeance doesn't come that easily to just anyone. All eyes are on the centaur as he ponders his decision.

* * *

The group at Sweet Apple Acres are sitting in a circle on the grass near the farm house, while Applejack and her family along with the Cutie Mark Crusaders help make some apple pie for lunch. During that time, Zenith is hearing a story about what happened at the Crystal Empire told by Spike.

"So, that Azerrad pony used this ability to choke anyone nearby without touching their throats, and Fluttershy is affected the most by it?" Zenith asked.

"Yeah, she's been down in the dumps since it happened to her." Spike answered, "We tried to cheer her up, but she still feels sad."

"If I see that jerk again, he'll get a good pounding by me for hurting Fluttershy until he cries 'uncle!'" Rainbow Dash declared, punching her hoofs together.

"And where's Fluttershy now?" wondered Zenith.

"At her cottage, at the opposite side of the town." replied Twilight, "Though I doubt she wants to see anypony at the moment."

"I see." Zenith looks to the side in thought. "Hearing what happened to her, I'd would've want to see her."

Hearing that made Rarity a bit wide eyed. It seems to her that Zenith wants to meet Fluttershy, and the white coated mare's thoughts start developing the jealous kind. Fluttershy is nearly as beautiful as Rarity without any makeup, so if Zenith sees the yellow coated Pegasus mare, he might become smitten with her before Rarity could make her move! Putting those thoughts aside a bit, Rarity cleared her throat gaining everypony's attention.

"I'm sure we all are concerned about Fluttershy, and that we should cheer her up somehow," Rarity stated, "but I'm sure we'll think of something as we talk about some cheerful subjects."

"Like what?" Dash asked.

"Like..." Rarity notices Zenith's violin case beside him, "Like that violin case Zenith has there. I take it that means you are a violinist?"

"In a way, yes. It is one of my hobbies." Zenith answered, "Playing a violin caught my interest in my young days, and it was through trial and error that I got the hang of it."

"You must have studied a lot to master violin playing." Starlight commented.

"In a few months, I did." replied Zenith.

"A few months?" Twilight went agape a bit, "That would be enough to make you a prodigy!"

"I prefer not to brag about that." Zenith said, "The last thing I'd want to be is some arrogant jerk who does not take everypony's feelings into consideration."

Hearing that made Starlight look to the side in grim thought. If he had heard what she did to the timeline of Equestria, Zenith might not want to be around a former villain, at least that's what Starlight thought.

"Can we have a closer look at your violin, Zenith?" asks Rarity.

"I don't see why not." Zenith opens the lid of the case and takes out his violin. "Take a gander if you like."

Twilight, Starlight, Spike, Rarity and Rainbow are immediately in awe at what they are seeing. At close inspection, the violin's body is coloured dark purple while the sides of its bouts have lilac flower designs on them. Even the scroll and pegbox are dark purple, whereas the pegs are coloured white. Its tailpiece and fingerboard are lilac coloured, and the bridge is designed in a unique way from others. The chinrest is simply black, aside from a purple rose design featured at the bottom of it.

"Cool!" Spike said.

"That is one impressively designed violin!" Twilight added.

"The decorations on it look so inspiring!" Rarity marvelled.

"I've never seen a violin like that all my life!" Starlight declared.

"Kinda fancy looking, but pretty awesome in its own way." Rainbow bluntly noted.

"Well, if my mom left it plain as she designed it, it wouldn't be fancy looking, would it?" Zenith sarcastically remarked while smirking.

"Your mom made that violin?" Twilight asked.

"No, she 'designed' it." Zenith reiterated, "My grandma once said that the woodwork was done by somepony else, and my mom took care of the painting part of it."

"Considering that your mom did that, maybe you followed in her hoofsteps of a violinist, right?" Spike wondered.

"Not really." replied Zenith, "More like I found myself being drawn to it."

"Whatever the reason, your mother ought to be proud of you." Rarity said.

"Probably more so when I play a certain melody in memory of her, which I'm now in the mood again to do so." Zenith takes the bow from the case, "Want to hear it?"

"Why yes, please. We would like to hear this melody you have for your mother." Rarity answered, "Don't the rest of you?"

Twilight, Starlight, Spike and Rainbow Dash agreed in unison. Zenith smiled at that, "Alright. Here goes."

Putting the chinrest under his chin, Zenith softly puts his bow on the strings of his violin, and starts playing. Slowly yet gracefully Zenith guided his bow as he played the notes of the music, one the group has never heard of before. It sounded sad, yet inspiring, like even though whatever's apart from you, it will always be with you.

Rarity puts her hoof on her heart as she watches Zenith play his violin, feeling like her throat is getting choked up in a good way, and her feelings for the silver coated stallion grows more stronger by the second. Rainbow Dash is mildly surprised as she listens to the music, like she had noticed that something that doesn't seem cool is actually cool, twenty percent cooler in her opinion.

Twilight smiles softly to the music played and Spike smirks a bit to how Zenith conducts his violin. Spike then notices Starlight's hooves clenching in place, and when he looked at her face, he is surprised. Tears are flowing freely down Starlight's cheeks as her face shows major sadness, and this concerns Spike.

Zenith finishes playing the music on one long high note, and he puts his bow down. The mares except Starlight clap their hooves calmly, applauding Zenith's splendid playing, though Spike continues to show concern for Starlight.

"Bravo, Zenith!" praised Rarity, "An extraordinary and inspiring performance!"

"I guess it sounded cool." Rainbow Dash added.

"I'll, take that as a compliment." Zenith nodded, "That melody isn't complete yet, but once I have it done it will really sound like a piece of music my mom will like to listen someday."

Twilight noticed Starlight crying softly. "Starlight? Are you okay?"

"Huh?" Starlight sees everypony looking at her and notices her cheeks getting wet from her tears. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine." she says as she wipes her eyes with her front leg, "I just find that music really getting to me, in a good way, like my heart was getting tugged."

"I know what you mean." Rarity agreed.

"Also, call me crazy, but somehow I recall hearing that kind of music before, "Starlight wondered, "I just can't remember when."

"But Ah know when Ah heard that." an elderly mare's voice said. The group looks and sees Granny Smith in front of them, her face showing an soft yet clear awed expression.

"Granny Smith? Shouldn't you be helping baking those apple pies and fritters?" Spike asked.

"And what do you mean you know when you heard the music I played?" Zenith inquired.

"Ah was in the process of puttin' the last touches on them pies and fritters until Ah heard that music playing loud and clear from the kitchen," Granny Smith explained, "and that's when Ah recalled somepony playing that same music. Ah just can't recall the name of that pony, almost."

"And who was that pony?" asked Zenith.

"Ah think it was an elderly mare, and her first name started with an O, and her last name an S. Was it Osmic? No, Oshawa? Oshep?" Granny Smith rambled, "Oshun? O-"

"Ocean Swing?!" Zenith blurted out in surprise.

"Yes! That's the name!" Granny Smith nodded firmly.

"You know my grandma?!" Zenith exclaimed.

Everypony gasped at Zenith's abrupt question. Before anyone can say something,

"Granny Smith!"

Apple Bloom runs up to her grandmother, and she appears to be breathing hard while her face shows a fearful look.

"What's the matter, Apple Bloom?" Granny Smith asked in concern.

"A creature snuck into the house and stole one of the apple pies!" Apple Bloom replied catching her breath, "Applejack and Big Mac chased it into the barn, but it is too fast for them to catch!"

"Then we better get that thieving varmint before it runs off with mah pie." the elderly mare's eyes narrowed, "Come on, younglin's, help us catch that thief!"

"You heard her, everypony! Let's go!" Twilight commanded.

"Got it!" Rainbow Dash saluted.

They all run to the barn as Dash flew ahead. As they got there, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle are at the entrance while Applejack and Big Mac are trying to catch the creature who has his claws on the pie.

"Hold still, ya varmint!" Applejack frustratingly yelled as she missed the creature.

"Mind the scales, cow girl!" the creature yelled back. Zenith's eyes then widened, for he recognizes that young and cheerful voice. Suddenly,

CHOMP!

"OW! Who's got my tail?" the creature demanded. He looked behind him and sees a dog having her teeth on his tail while she is growling. The dog has black eyes and moderate tangelo fur with white patches on her tail, legs, belly and a bit on her muzzle while wearing a red collar with a gold name tag on it.

"Nice job, Winona!" Applejack thanked the dog.

"We caught him red hoofed!" Big Mac stated.

"Darn tootin', ya did!" Granny Smith added. She, Applejack and Big Mac surround the creature. It looks like a colt, but with some dragon features on him, noticeably his eyes, wings and claws.

"You try anythin' funny, and we won't be nice to ya, ya hear?" Applejack warned the creature.

"That's right." Granny Smith agreed, "Now how about you-"

"STEP AWAY FROM MY SON!"

Everypony jumped from the sudden shout Zenith gave out. But what he said made all of them gasp.

"Your son?" Applejack bewilderedly said.

"Are you Sweet Celestia serious?" Rainbow Dash gaped.

Zenith glared his signature glare at the three farm ponies, which they seem to find frightening, even if they considered themselves used to receiving glares. Then he looked at the colt. "Meteo," he sternly addressed him, which surprised everypony, "How did you follow me all the way over here, and what's the big idea stealing a half-way baked apple pie?"

Meteo looked at the pie and noticed that it isn't giving off the fresh baked smell, and back at everypony who is surprised by the relationship between him and Zenith. "Well, ah, if you can get this dog off my tail and the farm ponies out of my private zone, I swear to give an honest explanation." Meteo chuckled nervously.

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

 **You'll have noticed by now that I put my different take on how Applejack's parents died, and considering that I saw the episode featuring her real parents,**

 **I may work on my future chapter with that in mind.**

 **Also, the violin music Zenith played? If you want to know the specific song in mind, look up the Youtube video called**

 **"The Most Beautiful Melody in The World" You might be amazed by it. I know I have.**

 **Until next time. :)**


	17. Chapter 16

"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHH!"

A feminine scream echoes throughout the large cave, and Azerrad, Vohrnil, Ryzoth and Tirek are startled by it except for Dark Shadow. The Changelings back away from Queen Chrysalis who has awakened to find her horn missing on her head, and she isn't taking it well.

"My horn! My wonderful horn!" cried Chrysalis as she clutched her head with her hooves, "Without it, I can't disguise myself nor feed on love, all because of that wretched and inconceivable stallion who broke it off of my head!"

"Whoa. And I thought getting my ear messed up was bad." Ryzoth muttered.

"Chrysalis, calm yourself." Dark Shadow calmly said.

"Calm myself?!" the Changeling queen lashed out, "How can I calm myself when my horn-"

"I SAID CALM YOURSELF!" the helmeted pony bellowed. Chrysalis and everypony else got scared by that tone, even Tirek is wondering why he is feeling this way. Dark Shadow took a breath and continued, "Getting frustrated with your misgivings is a pointless thing to do. Instead of being in grief, you should view it as another chance to move forward. You would do well to remember that."

Chrysalis reluctantly bowed to Dark Shadow, "Y-yes, Lord Shadow."

"And your horn is nothing to worry about," the helmeted pony added, "I have the means to give you back what is taken from you, like regenerating your horn to its former glory. I can't just sit by and let my daughter suffer, can I?"

"Daughter?" Chrysalis raised her eyebrow.

"What are you talking about, Papa? You don't call somepony of that title until you do that thing."

Everypony except Dark Shadow, Azerrad, and Vohrnil got startled by that soft spoken, clean yet spooky voice. Suddenly...

"AAAAAAHHHH!"

Ryzoth jumps in fright as a ghostly figure passes right through in front of his body. Then the ghost laughs in a cackling sort as it floats towards Dark Shadow.

"Jynsea! You know I hate it when you do that!" yelled Ryzoth, trying to calm himself from that prank.

The ghost then morphs into a mare Pegasus and lands beside the helmeted pony. She has a pale coat, a pure cyan mane where it flows down to her right side just stopping near her front leg and a small tail looking the same as her mane. Her eyes are a dark scarlet color, but the insides of her eyes are not black, like she has some condition. Even her face looks as beautiful as any other mare's, despite her nose being pointed upwards a bit. She laughs a bit, then she speaks, "Aw, come now, Ryzo-Whino. You simply make it too easy."

"On that I agree." Azerrad smirked, earning a comical glare from Ryzoth. Vohrnil chuckles at the reaction.

"Jynsea." Dark Shadow addressed her, "What brings you here after so long, my daughter?"

"Oh, you know, just flying around the country, keeping tabs on what's going on." Jynsea explained, "And I see you got a lot of company, Papa." she nods to Tirek, Chrysalis and her Changelings, "Are they joining our family?"

"One of them did," answered Dark Shadow, "I'm merely waiting for the other to make his decision to join us in our cause."

Tirek composes himself a bit, "Yes, I was pondering what to decide until the Queen of the Changelings interrupted me with her rants about her horn." the remark was not left unnoticed by Chrysalis, who merely huffs to herself.

"That easily?" Jynsea wondered, "You didn't recruit them with the ritual?"

"What ritual?" Dark Shadow asked.

"You know, Papa, THAT ritual."

At Jynsea's statement, the dark helmeted pony's mouth opened, like he is in minor shock. Then, he grits his teeth and starts to shake while making grunting noises.

"Uh-oh," Ryzoth is alarmed, "Daddy's gonna pop his blood vessels! Hit the deck!" he quickly lies down on the ground, though Azerrad, Vohrnil are still standing while Tirek, Chrysalis and the Changelings are confused. And then...

"RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH!"

Dark Shadow turns around and fires multiple red beams of magic from his hooves on at a time at the wall opposite his throne. For a few seconds he continues his attack, while Tirek, Chrysalis and the Changelings cower in fear, and Jynsea, Azerrad and Vohrnil watch on in minor concern. Ryzoth continues to lie on the ground covering his head, waiting for this rampage to end.

Eventually, Dark Shadow stops blasting the wall, leaving it in a pile of rubble, and takes hard breaths. Jynsea walks up to him, "Papa? Are you alright?"

The helmeted pony regains his strength and sighs. "Yes, Jynsea." he replies, "I'm just frustrated with myself for forgetting about the ritual." Dark Shadow then looks at Jynsea, and smiles softly, "Thank you for reminding me of it."

"Just happy to help." Jynsea smiled.

"Is he done?" Ryzoth asked, getting up onto his hooves.

"Hmm, yes, Father is done rampaging." Vohrnil replied.

"Everypony, I must retreat to my quarters," Dark Shadow explains, "I shall look into the matter of the ritual and the means of giving Chrysalis her horn back. In the meantime, why don't you all acquaint yourselves with each other? That way we will have a better chance to fulfill our cause together."

With that, Dark Shadow disappears into his black smoke covering his body and it flies to another cavern. Jynsea then looks at the three ponies, an old centaur, and a hornless Changeling queen with her subjects.

"So," Jynsea says, "Who wants to talk about what happened to themselves that made them miserable?" she giggles evilly, which mostly everypony in the cavern finds it to be creepy.

* * *

At Sweet Apple Acres, things have calmed down a bit, yet mostly everypony is surprised by something they learned. A creature named Meteo stole an apple pie and the Apples nearly got to punish him, until Zenith demanded they back off from his son. In the dining room of the house, everypony is sitting at the table, and they have servings of apple pie on their plates. Zenith takes a piece of the pie with his fork.

"Howdy, little fella!" Zenith sniffs in the smell of the piece, "Oh, that smells great. What an interesting aroma. Smells like a sour yet sweet jelly covered in a cloud of dough. And without further ado!"

Zenith takes a whole bite of the piece and chews happily on it. Meteo is sitting beside Zenith, smirking amusingly at him. On their left sits Twilight, Spike, Starlight, Rarity and Rainbow Dash. Granny Smith is at the opposite end of the table from Zenith and Meteo. Big Macintosh, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Applejack sit on the other side of the table from the drake and four ponies. They usually glance in awe and surprise at Zenith and Meteo because of the relationship they have. Zenith swallows the piece, and after a second or two...

"Ah ha ha ha ha! Mmmm! Certainly sour and sweet!" the silver coated stallion exclaimed, "Super tasty! Is there no end to these surprises?!"

"You said that similar thing this morning." Meteo rolled his eyes.

"Just one of my quirks, Meteo." responded Zenith.

"So, why am I only getting one piece of pie?" asked Meteo.

"It's your little punishment for leaving our friends behind without notifying them and following me from a distance." Zenith answered, "And if you complain any further, you'll be left out of breakfast time tomorrow. Clear?"

Meteo noticed the look Zenith is giving him. "Yes, dad." He muttered.

"Look on the bright side," Apple Bloom spoke up, "Me, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle are getting the same punishment as you are."

"Yeah, guess you're right on that." Meteo smirked a bit.

"So let me get this straight," Spike spoke up, "Are you really Zenith's son?"

"Actually, he is my guardian." the creature replied, "We may not be related, but we treat each other like any parent and offspring would, and I couldn't be happier being with him." Meteo looked up at Zenith, who simply smirked.

"And are you a sub-species of a dragon?" Twilight asked.

Meteo instantly looked at Twilight mildly incredulously, "Hey! Longma. LONG-ma. Not dragon. Even if I do that tongue thing I end up neighing at the same time." Meteo does so away from Twilight, and the combined hiss and neigh sounds a little garbled up, and he holds his nose wondering if he is startled by the vibrations from it. He hears a muffled giggle and sees Scootaloo holding her hoof over her mouth trying to contain her laughter.

"What's so funny, Scootaloo?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"That is the funniest sound I've ever heard all my life!" Scootaloo giggled a bit more.

"Scootaloo, be nice." Applejack firmly said. "Even if it is funny, we shouldn't make a big deal out of it."

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Meteo declared, "...some of the time."

"A Longma? Never heard of that kind of creature before." Twilight mused, "I'll have to look that up sometime."

"So, Granny Smith," Zenith said, getting the elder mare's attention, "how is it you got to know my grandma Ocean Swing a few years ago?"

"Well, younglin', that started way back, just a few months later after Applejack got her cutie mark." Granny Smith explained, "One mornin', Ah noticed an elderly mare who looked older than me comin' over here. Even for an old mare she still got the looks, pretty enough to charm any stallion comin' her way."

"Pretty enough to pass off for my mom." Zenith smirked.

The elder mare chuckled at that little joke, "Yeah, Ah would've fallen for that if you were accompanyin' her." Granny Smith cleared her throat to continue, "We introduced ourselves and she is looking to buy some apples for her own delicacies. Then, Ocean Swing looked at me in a concerned manner and asks what is botherin' me, and Ah was confused at what she was gettin' at. Without respondin', she then put her case down and took a violin out of there. Then she began to play that same music you were playin', Zenith."

"What happened then?" Apple Bloom asked, being intrigued by this story.

"As she finished playing that music, Ah felt like all mah troubles were temporarily taken off my shoulders." Granny Smith sighed, "And Ah remember that feelin' after so long. Ocean Swing then said that whatever was botherin' me, she is sure Ah'll get it settled out with the help of mah friends and family. We then conducted our business with them apples and she went back to Ponyville. It's the last time Ah've ever seen and heard from that sweet old mare."

Mostly everypony is in awe of the story. "Gosh, it's mighty sweet of her to do that." Applejack commented.

"That's my grandma for ya." Zenith added.

Then, Meteo feels his nose suddenly getting itchy, and he subconsciously breathes in more air. Rainbow Dash notices this, "Uh, Zenith? Your little buddy's gonna sneeze."

By the time Zenith looks at his little friend...

"AH-CHOO!"

Meteo not only sneezes, but a small burst of blue flame erupts from his mouth as he raises his claws close to it. The flame disappears and in its place resting on Meteo's claws is a scroll with a blue ribbon tied around it. Everypony except Zenith and Meteo gasps at the sight.

"Sweet Celestia!" Rarity exclaimed, "Meteo has done that same thing Spike does!"

"Uh, what thing?" Meteo asked as he gave the scroll to Zenith.

"Spike has this magical flame he uses to send letters to Princess Celestia," Twilight explained once she regained her composure, "And when she sends a letter, Spike burps it out."

"Isn't that a bit gross? No offence." Zenith quickly said to the little dragon as he united the scroll.

"None taken," Spike smiles, "It may look gross, but the scrolls I burp out are clean like a whistle."

"I'm surprised to see that Spike isn't the only one who has that ability." said Starlight.

"I don't mind being a portable letter carrier of that sort." Meteo replied, "Of course, it's better than burping out one letter at a time per few seconds and getting a stomach ache from that."

Spike's face lit up in shock, then he looks away in embarrassment while chuckling nervously, "Funny you should mention that..."

"What does it say?" Scootaloo asks.

"'Dear Zenith,'" the silver coated stallion read the letter, "'I write this urgent message on two matters. The first is that we noticed Meteo is missing, and we found his tracks leading to where you were headed. Chances are he is long gone after you. We apologize for letting this happen.

"'The second matter is that the engine trouble is more complicated than I thought. Somehow the engine's wires got fried, so I'll have to work on replacing them tonight, delaying our agreed arrival tomorrow morning. Again we apologize for this unexpected turn of events.

"'Please reply to us by sundown. I'll have a report on the engine's status by then. I hope you're enjoying your visit in Ponyville and found Meteo safe and sound. Your friend and crewmate, Chestnut McApple.'"

Granny Smith's eyes lit up at the 'McApple' name. Has she heard that name from somewhere before?

"Guess they ran into technical difficulty," Meteo said.

"Is Chestnut one of those friends you mentioned?" Rarity asked.

"Yes. He prefers to be called 'Chester' since I called him that in the first place." Zenith answered.

"Hold on. That Chester guy referred to ya as his 'crewmate,' and he mentioned something about the engine's wires being fried." Apple Bloom spoke up, "Does that mean...?"

"Yup. I'm the Captain of the ship me and my friends use to travel with." said Zenith.

"And I'm his right-hoof partner." Meteo added. "Or, claw in my case."

"No way!" Scootaloo exclaimed, "That's cool! Does your ship sail on water?"

"Not exactly," Zenith shook his head, "but I'll give you this hint: It is similar to a zeppelin, only more advanced, and much faster."

Mostly everypony is in awe of the explanation Zenith gave about his ship and his position on it. He then clears his throat, "But enough about that. Lunch isn't going to eat itself, you know."

"Darn tootin'!" Granny Smith agreed, "Best get to eatin' them pies before they get cold."

So they all start to eat their pieces of pie. Of course, Meteo only took one bite of his piece, and he looks at it in sadness. Apple Bloom notices this. "What's wrong, Meteo?" she asks in concern, "don't you like apple pie?"

"No, no, it tastes good," Meteo replied, "but...eating some stolen food kind of makes me feel ashamed, you know?"

"Well, you did steal that apple pie." Rainbow Dash bluntly said.

"Rainbow Dash!" Applejack firmly berates the rainbow haired Pegasus.

"What? It's true!" Dash reaffirmed, "We saw him holding it and everything!"

Meteo glances once more at his piece of pie, then with a sigh takes his knife, holds his piece down with his fork as he cuts it into three pieces, and slides his plate towards Apple Bloom, which she, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle notice. "Here. You three can have these." He said.

"Huh? Why would you do that?" Scootaloo asks, "Won't you go hungry?"

"Leaving three fillies starving even with one piece of pie sounds stupid to me, so it's worth the risk, not to mention it should make up for stealing that pie."

Everypony paused eating and looked at Meteo in awe as he said those words, except Zenith who merely smirked. The Crusaders feel touched by this gesture, though Scootaloo tries to hide it.

"Aw, that's so sweet." Sweetie cooed, "It's pretty cute of you to do that for us."

At that moment, Meteo eyes go wide, and a second later, his cheeks blush a bright pink. Everypony except Zenith gets concerned. "Meteo?" Starlight asks, "Are you alright?"

"C-c-cute?" Meteo stammers, then in an instant, he gets off of his chair and flaps his dragon wings as he dances in the air while laughing embarrassingly, "Aw, come on, I'm not that good looking! What are the chances any filly would fall for me?"

"Okay, Meteo, that's enough modesty. And there's no need for those theatrics while eating." Zenith said, still smirking.

Meteo paused his routine and sees mostly everypony having mixed feelings on what he did. Chuckling embarrassingly, Meteo sat back down, "Sorry, force of habit."

As that is going on, Rarity couldn't help but smile softly, for seeing Zenith being firm but kind to the longma reminds her of those days she was in those similar situations with Sweetie Belle, and the thought makes her blush a bit. Then she resumed eating her pie as the rest of her friends do so.

A few minutes later, everypony is outside the house. "Thanks a bunch for the apple pies and fritters, Granny Smith." Zenith happily bowed to the elder mare.

"Yer mighty welcome, sonny." Granny Smith said, "If yer pals come over to Ponyville, tell them Sweet Apple Acres is the best place to buy the best apples around."

"I'll be sure to do that." Zenith replied.

"So, shall we continue to show you what Ponyville has to offer?" Twilight asked.

"Actually, it is within my concern to meet this Fluttershy you talked about." said Zenith.

"Wait a zooming minute, pal!" Rainbow Dash firmly got up to Zenith's face as she ascends a bit in the air, "Twilight clearly said that Fluttershy doesn't want to see anypony at the moment, as in, needing space to cope with what happened last night!"

Despite being startled by the cyan furred mare glaring at him, Zenith kept his composure. "I take it Fluttershy's been your friend the longest among your other ones?" he inquired.

"That's right! I'm not the Element of Loyalty for nothing, you know!" Rainbow stated.

"Didn't Applejack state we will be along to check on Fluttershy?" Rarity recounted.

"I know she said that!" Rainbow spat, "But that doesn't mean-"

Zenith then pushes Rainbow Dash away from him with his left hoof. "Rainbow Dash, I'm gonna have to stop you right there this instant." he firmly spoke in a commanding tone.

"What'd you say?!" Rainbow cried out.

"Listen here, and listen good!"

Those words Zenith shouted shut everypony up. Even those who attempted to stop the bickering backed off. Meteo is startled by this as well, but his eyes show that he knows his father figure is being like this for a reason. Normally, anypony in this situation would try to keep things under control, but for some strange reason, Zenith's presence seem to radiate a sense of authority when he shouted those words, and something else at that.

Even Twilight is wondering why she feels a bit intimidated by this, despite being an Alicorn.

Taking a breath, Zenith takes his hoof off of Rainbow's shoulder and continued, "Rainbow Dash, I get that you take the virtue of loyalty seriously, and I can respect that. But, don't you think you've been taking it way overboard than necessary, like overflowing your cup with too much cider?"

"What are you getting at?" Rainbow raised her eyebrow.

"Let me put this in a simple manner. It is okay to be passionate about something when the situation calls for it. However, if you let that passion get the best of you and you act on it all the time in everything you do, you'll end up bringing more harm than good not just to everypony, but also to yourself, even if it was your intention or not." Zenith explained, "Am I right to assume you had to be reminded of that plenty of times?"

After a second or two, Rainbow Dash's eyes widen in realization. Everypony else who listened to Zenith's words are astonished by them, and it seems to bring subtle revelations to each of them, if not a mere reminder to what they've been through. Rainbow then glances away, a look of frustration in her eyes and an obvious frown. Everypony notices this and gets concerned, mostly Scootaloo.

"Well, there were times I cr- uh, tumbled down badly due to my past actions," Rainbow reluctantly said, her correction on her sentence not left unnoticed by the silver stallion, "but my friends usually help me see the damage I've done, and I pick myself up from there. It goes to show that your friends won't leave you hanging when you've shown them that you won't either." She finishes that sentence with a confident look and her usual heroic pose.

"So, you still against checking up on Fluttershy?" asked Zenith.

Rainbow reluctantly sighed, "A little, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to do so. If you got your mind set on it, who am I to get in the way?"

Everypony else mostly smiled or make sighs of relief, seeing the new stallion and headstrong Pegasus being on good terms with each other. "Then it's decided." Twilight announced, "We'll head to Fluttershy's cottage and check on her well being." She turned to the young farm mare, "You coming, Applejack?"

"Ah wish Ah could, but Ah gotta make sure the Crusaders do one last thing to finish their punishment." Applejack said. "But ya'll tell Fluttershy Ah said 'hi', okay?"

"Will do, Applejack." Rainbow Dash saluted.

"Speaking of 'one last thing'," Zenith spoke up and walked up to Apple Bloom and knelt down to her level, "Apple Bloom?"

"Yeah?" replied the red haired filly.

"Remember what I told you about my parents. I've been making my mom and dad proud of what I did throughout my life, and I'm not gonna stop anytime soon." Zenith then motioned to Apple Bloom's family, "Your whole family has been doing the same thing for your parents, and by the forces above, I'll bet your parents will be proud of what you will continue to do in the future."

Upon hearing those words, Apple Bloom slowly smiles while biting her lip. She then hugs Zenith, surprising him and everypony present. "Thank you, Zenith." Apple Bloom sniffed, "Ah'll make Ma and Pa proud of me as Ah do the best Ah can just by being me, so thank you for those kind and assuring words."

Zenith smiles and returns the gesture. Everypony watches this in similar feelings of happiness. Even Rainbow Dash can't help but smirk again at this display.

Sweetie Belle is touched by Zenith's efforts at making her friend feel better. Of course, she starts to feel jealous that Apple Bloom is that close to the handsome stallion.

For Rarity, that's a similar story. Seeing Zenith comforting Apple Bloom is making her heart flutter. Then she thought that if he comforted Fluttershy like that, it would be the first step for the shy mare to be more than friends with Zenith, and she has suspicions that it may happen sooner than she thought.

After saying their goodbyes, and some apologies being given and accepted, Zenith, Meteo, Twilight, Spike, Starlight, Rarity and Rainbow Dash went on their way to Fluttershy's cottage.

"That Zenith is one nice fella." Granny Smith noted, "He reminds me of his old sweet granny. Don't ya'll agree?"

"Eeyup." Big Mac nodded.

"A little firm, but as kind as a mother bird feeding her babies." Applejack added. Her pet dog, Winona barked in agreement and Applejack petted her head.

"By the way," Scootaloo spoke up, "what was it about us doing one last thing for our punishment?"

"It's simple, really. If ya'll three behave while we sell the apples ya collected at the market, and Ah mean 'all' the apples, Ah'll consider your lesson learned and your punishment done." Applejack explained, "That all right, Granny Smith?"

"Fine by me." the elder mare nodded, "Just be sure they don't sneak off again."

"Don't worry. Winona will keep an eye on them, won't you, girl?" Applejack looked to her pet who barked in response.

"All right, Crusaders. If we do this right, we'll may be able to find a pony who has trouble figurin' out their cutie marks." Apple Bloom said.

"Sounds good to me." Scootaloo turned to her white filly friend, "What about you, Sweetie Belle?"

Despite hearing the conversation, Sweetie Belle looked at the direction the ponies, dragon and longma went, specifically Zenith. She wondered if she'll meet him again, and just thinking about him made her blush a little.

"Hello! Anypony home?" Scootaloo called out.

"Huh?" Sweetie Belle snaps back to reality, "Uh, yeah, yeah that works for me, too."

"Come one, ya'll!" Applejack called, "Them apples won't be sellin' themselves, ya know!"

"We're coming!" Apple Bloom replied.

The Crusaders followed Applejack, and Sweetie Belle took one last look at where Zenith went. Confirming she'll see more of him in the future, the white filly caught up to her friends.

* * *

Sometime later, after going along the edge of Ponyville, the five ponies, one little dragon and one longma arrive at a woodland cottage. To Zenith's and Meteo's surprise, various animals are going about their lives near the cottage like it is a part of their home. Of course, some of them look a bit nervous and cautious after what happened last night.

"Is this the place?" Zenith asked.

"It is. That is Fluttershy's cottage, a home to her and other animals." Twilight explained.

"All of those animals?" Meteo said in awe, though he rubbed his ear, like there's a certain noise annoying him.

"Yeah, Fluttershy takes care of all the animals that can fit in her home, hence her occupation." Rainbow Dash nodded.

"So, shall we check on Fluttershy?" Zenith inquired.

"Not so fast!"

The group is startled a bit by that voice. Then...

POOF!

A Draconequus appears in front of them wearing a mock up version of a guard's armor. As he landed on the ground, he stood at attention with a mop in his paw. "Unless a princess states otherwise, nopony is to see Fluttershy at the moment."

"Uh, Discord? Twilight's a princess, so she has a say on that." Spike nodded to Twilight.

"Um, yes, that's pretty much how it goes." Twilight rolled her eyes then turned her attention to Discord. "It's okay, Discord. We're just want to check how Fluttershy's doing in person."

"Yeah, Discord, at ease. You did a good job looking after her." Rainbow said.

"Oh? Well, I have my doubts, but as you command, fair princess." With that, Discord snapped his paw fingers and his guard armor disappeared in the flesh. "I was starting to get a bit cramped wearing that armor all day."

Discord then noticed Zenith and Meteo, who were looking at him in mild horror. "And who are those two?" asked Discord.

"Oh, they arrived today in Ponyville, and are intending to move in once they have found a place to stay at," explained Starlight, "As for their names, they are-"

"WWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! IT'S DDDIIIIISSSSCCCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRDD!"

Everypony is taken aback by Meteo's scream of fright, and the other animals are startled by it enough to make haste for their homes. "HHEEEEELLPP! THE EMBODIMENT OF CHAOS IS GONNA DESTROY US AAAAALLL!" Meteo cried as he jumped onto Zenith's back and clutched his neck. The silver stallion then leaps backwards and assumes a defensive position, growling like a dog.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Let's not lose our heads here!" Twilight hovered in front of Zenith waving her hooves, which grab his attention, "Discord has changed! He may look scary, but he gave up his chaotic ways for good, and-" Twilight pauses a bit when she figures out something about Zenith's and Meteo's reaction, "Wait a minute. How do you know Discord?"

"Yes, how do you know me?" Discord asked.

Zenith looked back at the Draconequus, "I read from a book that a millennia ago, you caused major chaos on Equestria until the royal sisters used the Elements of Harmony to trap you in a stone statue!" he yelled angrily.

"A-a-and that book had pictures showing what you exactly look like!" Meteo added, clinging onto Zenith's neck in fear.

"So how did you escape from that stone prison?!" Zenith demanded.

Mostly everypony present is caught off guard at how Zenith and Meteo already know Discord. The spirit of chaos then clears his throat, "That is a lllooooooonnngg story," he says as his arms extend like a rubber band and then snaps back in place, "but to summarize it," he snaps his claws and a grey Discord duplicate appears beside him bearing an evil face, "I used to believe that spreading chaos is all fun and games, no matter who got the stick end of it. But! That Discord got booted out of the building!"

The original Discord then kicks his duplicate in the bottom, making it disappear, "And it is thanks to Fluttershy and her friends that I am a changed Draconequus!" An angel halo appears above Discord's head as he poses in a triumphant manner.

But Zenith isn't convinced, "As if I'd buy that! And that doesn't explain how you escaped!"

"Let's just say some certain ponies argued about who I was, which was the final stretch for me to release myself from being a garden decoration." Discord explained.

"And you started your murdering spree after that?!"

Mostly everypony gasped at Zenith's accusation, even Discord. Just then, the cottage door behind Discord opened, and a yellow Pegasus mare flies out and comes face to face with Zenith which he notices.

"Listen here, mister! I know from the first time I met Discord that he used to find joy in seeing other ponies suffer from the chaos he caused," Fluttershy lectured the silver pony, who simply raised his eyebrow, "but he knows better than to destroy ponies straight out! He told me himself during one of our tea parties, and you know why? Because he is my friend! It doesn't matter who he used to be and what he did back then, what matters is that he changed for the better and is on good terms with everypony, even Princess Celestia! If you have a problem with that, you can take it up with me, or my name wouldn't be Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy's words had differing impacts on the silver stallion and the red and blue longma. Not only is Meteo stunned by her words, but also her beauty. Her pure light yellow coat, her long pink mane and tail, and her teal eyes seem to radiate a sense of comfort to Meteo, even when she looks angry.

But Zenith looked at Fluttershy in suspicion and a bit of concern with his eyebrow still raised. Sure he finds this yellow mare cute, but Zenith reminds himself in his mind that he will give his heart to another mare. What he sees in her stern eyes, is another emotion hidden underneath, one he believes she is trying to make it so.

A second or two after she lectured the two newcomers, Fluttershy's face shifted to sadness, and she descends to the ground. "Oh, who am I fooling? I'm so upset from what happened last night that being assertive doesn't seem to cut it right now." Fluttershy sniffed as tears softly built up in her eyes. Seeing this brought guilt to Zenith and Meteo, along with the concern of how she ended up this way. Twilight descends to the ground as well and put a comforting hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder.

"Fluttershy? We came over here to check up on you as we promised," Twilight explained, "and these two are Zenith and Meteo, new ponies who arrived here in Ponyville. At least one of them is a pony."

"I'm sorry. My depression is eating at me so badly that I couldn't think straight." Fluttershy wiped the tears off her eyes with her hoof.

"How about we take this conversation inside?" Discord said, offering the way to Fluttershy's cottage, "There's some tea brewed up for everypony."

Zenith raised his eyebrow in suspicion again and Meteo quivered behind him. Twilight notices this. "Zenith, Meteo, I know this may be a lot to take in, but what Fluttershy said about Discord is true." said Twilight, "You'll have to trust me when I say that Discord has changed. If not, then trust Fluttershy, for all our sakes."

The silver stallion is mildly taken aback by Twilight's words. He looks at the grief stricken Fluttershy, and at the rest of the ponies and little dragon. They nod in agreement with Twilight. Zenith then sighed, "Alright, I'll trust you on this, Twilight, for Fluttershy's sake."

"W-w-what he said." Meteo added.

Twilight softly smiled and motioned the others to come into the cottage. Rarity, who watched what happened so far, starts to feel a little suspicious that her thoughts about Zenith and Fluttershy might come to fruition, along with being jealous. But her friend is in deep peril, and Rarity focuses on that as she and the rest of her friends entered the cottage, with Zenith and Meteo following behind.

* * *

Back at the cave in Everfree Forest, on the Tree of Harmony, the star shaped Element that has a crack on its left side instantly cracked a bit more down. At the same time, the other Elements turned dull and formed single cracks on each of them at various positions.

This bad sign for Equestria seems more severe than originally thought.

TO BE CONTINUED...


End file.
